In 1981, punk rock had come to mean hardcore, and in Minneapolis, bands like and (soon to become ) were flying the flag for the faster, louder, and shorter aesthetic. When made their way into the Twin City's underground rock scene, they were initially lumped in with the local hardcore crowd, but their debut album, 1981's , was obviously made of different things. were punk in the tradition of earlier bands like , , and Minneapolis' own -- they played fast and loud with plenty of attitude, but their melodic style was clearly beholden to stripped-down rock & roll traditionalism (as were 's guitar leads), and while they liked to play dumb, they were clearly too smart to be boxed in by hardcore's narrow stylistic boundaries. is the work of a band that's rough yet inspired -- 's sloppy, full-bodied rhythm guitar gave plenty of room for his repurposed licks, 's basslines were lively and carried their share of the melody, and drummer had the stamina and the muscle to keep up with it all. Though sounded scrappy and exciting here, what truly set them apart was 's songs -- they were clever, funny, and self-depreciating, the work of a young man with a fully functioning bullshit detector whose arrogance about his talent was balanced by his obvious insecurities about life, work, women, and himself. was more than willing to rage ("Careless," "Takin' a Ride," "Don't Ask Why") and occasionally wear his heart on his sleeve ("Customer," "Johnny's Gonna Die"), though he knew folks would only stick around if he was funny, and is very funny indeed, and genuinely inspiring in its sloppy but heartfelt wallop. Though would get a lot better very quickly, drew the roadmap to everything that was best about them right out of the box, and it remains a dirty, roaring rock & roll delight. ~ Mark Deming