The latest single from The I Don’t Cares, the new project from Juliana Hatfield and Paul Westerberg, is actually a rocked up version of a tune from Westerberg’s third solo record, 1999’s Suicane Gratification.The new track can be heard over on The Current.
The newly recorded duet between the alt-rock legends falls more in line with Westerberg’s self-produced basement recordings featured on 2002’s Mono (which was released under the Grandpaboy moniker) than the slick and somber Don Was version, which featured piano, strings, and Shawn Colvin. This version, the re-re-recorded “Born For Me,” is all ramshackle charm, sloppy guitars, and Faces-inspired drumming, more than likely performed by Westerberg himself. And despite the “warts and all” approach, it sounds like Westerberg and Hatfield are having a blast recording the song. You don’t even get the sense that Paul is fucking with the listeners, as he’s prone to do.
The first I Don’t Cares full-length, Wild Stab—unwittingly crowdfunded by fans flocking to The Replacements reunions shows last year—drops tomorrow, Friday, January 22nd, and features artwork that any midcentury modern enthusiast would appreciate hanging up in their living room. That’s right, records come out on Fridays now, which may be news to those who haven’t bought any since Hatfield and Westerberg’s respective heydays.