Ever open a drawer in your kitchen or bedroom and discover a thousand dollars lying there? Me either. But there are equivalents to this experience, and I have one to share. I don't know how The Replacements came up in our conversation, but Rajeev and I were discussing them one night this week while waiting around at the Mercury Lounge for some band or another. We agreed they were fantastic and that they wrote songs so great we get the chills just thinking about them.

I'm absolutely not an expert on the Replacements or Paul Westerberg or Tommy Stinson or any of the other guys and their side projects. I've heard a few of the `Mats records in the past, but I always focused on single tracks over the album experience. For example, I bought Tim back in the day really only to hear "Little Mascara."

So this weekend I listened to the `Mats again. I started with Let it Be. At first the experience was normal, but then I got to the seventh track, "Unsatisfied." Suddenly I was blasted by the unvarnished emotion in Westerberg's voice.  "Look me in the eye and tell me / That I'm satisfied" he dares, singing with so much raw disconsolation.  The song strikes chords with me and says so much about my opinions on many things these days. "Unsatisfied" is an anthem for our disaffecting times, where the world offers so much but so little actually sticks.

I listened to Let it Be all the way through a second and third time, hearing it anew on each play. I realized then that I'd never really "got" the Replacements before. I had appreciated their songs, but never grasped exactly what was at their core. I still don't have it down yet, but I can see it's time for a true measuring of the Replacements.

Listen to The Replacements - "Unsatisfied (Live)" (MP3)

Elsewhere:

With 2006 half over, it's just about time to begin collecting thoughts and opinions on the first six months of music. Here at One Louder we'll be posting individual lists of favorite albums, EPs, songs and other random bits over the next three days. Is "Unsatisfied" perhaps a suitable summation of this year so far for me? Am I ever satisfied? Probably not, but there have been a handful of quality releases worth noting. Looking at my play counts in iTunes, I've listened to Brian Eno more than any other band that put out music this year, but his albums were released in the `70s. I won't give away what I plan on picking, but right now I can't think of one album that stands above all others. The field is wide open.