The Psychedelic Furs with guest Bash & Pop

If you were to dissect today’s alternative rock music, you’ll find that much of it pays homage to The Psychedelic Furs. Led by vocalist and songwriter Richard Butler, and his bass-wielding brother Tim, the Furs scored major his with “Love My Way,” “Pretty in Pink,” “Heaven,” “The Ghost in You” and “Heartbreak Beat.” The Furs released seven studio albums, spawning several compilations, a boxed set and a live concert DVD.

Born out of the post-punk UK rock scene, the Furs quickly developed as one of the premiere bands on US College and Modern Rock radio scoring a multitude of #1 singles. With the advent of MTV in the early ‘80s, the band took off into the stratosphere and when John Hughes approached the band with his film built around the Furs’ song “Pretty in Pink,” the band’s legacy was cemented. After a brief hiatus in the ‘90s, and a side project called Love Spit Love, the band regrouped at the dawn of the new millennium. The Psychedelic Furs touring lineup consists of Richard Butler (vocals), Tim Butler (bass), Rich Good (guitar), Mars Williams (saxophone), Amanda Kramer (keyboards) and Paul Garisto (drums).

When you listen to a Tommy Stinson record, under any moniker, you’re hearing rock ‘n’ roll done by a lifer, someone who has literally spent three-fourths of his time on earth touring and making music. If you subscribe to theory that it takes 10,000 hours to achieve mastery in any field, Tommy Stinson has done that, many times over. And with Anything Could Happen, he doesn’t want to waste your time… no, not this time.

Anything Could Happen is the second album by Bash & Pop, a very welcome and long-awaited follow-up to 1992’s Friday Night is Killing Me. The helmsman of the group is one Thomas Eugene Stinson, better known as Tommy of The Replacements – the seminal band of which he was co-founder, bassist and sparkplug. Now coming off a fruitful 18-year stretch playing bass with stadium rockers Guns N’ Roses and a hugely successful 33-show Replacements reunion romp, Tommy is clearly jazzed to be doing his own thing again.