GOLDMINE

Vol.#335 / May 28, 1993

GOO GOO DOLLS
Superstar Car Wash
Warner Brothers/Metal Blade (9 45206-2)

So you say you miss the Replacements'? Not big on the restrained, All Shook Down era Mats, but you dig the slightly more raucous Pleased To Meet Me type o'stuff? Interested in hearing what the soundtrack album for the Broadway show "Replacementmania" might sound like? Well, friends, the Goo Goo Dolls' Superstar Car Wash is for you. Just when it seemed as if these guys’ Replacements fetish had peaked on their last CD, Hold Me Up (with The Replacements influenced college radio fave "Just The Way You Are"), they’ve gone the whole hog and put out an entire CD that sounds exactly like Paul Westerberg and company. To hammer the point home, Superstar Car Wash’s first single, "We Are The Normal", was co-written by none other than Westerberg himself, and sounds like an outtake from Don't Tell A Soul. The other 13 songs are by no means bad-the three dolls work up a real good tuneful head of steam, and producer Gavin MacKillop gives the songs a big, crunchy rock sound- but it’s extremely difficult to listen to Superstar Car Wash and not think of the Replacements.

If you can get past the comparison, however, about half of these songs are damned fine. "Girl Right Next To Me", "Cuz You're Gone", "Fallin’ Down", and "On The Lie" are all excellent examples of what happens to punk rock and the people who play it when they both grow up. Unfortunately, along  with growing up, the Goo Goo Dolls seemed to have tempered the wackiness that was part of their charm. Still, if you enjoyed the Replacements, or if you're just a fan of big, loud post-punk rock 'a' roll, the Goo Goos’ll do.

John M. Borack.