VIA PRESS RELEASE | Soul Asylum, inheritors of the throne in the Minneapolis scene launched by The Replacements and Hüsker Dü, stood out because of their smart, punky, hard rock songs and relentless work ethic. They made three albums, an EP, and a cassette for hometown label Twin/Tone Records before moving on to the majors: first A&M, then Columbia, where they scored two platinum albums and won a Best Rock Song Grammy® for “Runaway Train.”
While You Were Out was the band’s third album and its third release of 1986, following second album Made To Be Broken and the cassette-only rarities compilation, Time’s Incinerator. It is considered by many to be their finest album. The album was produced by Chris Osgood of the Twin Cities’ Suicide Commandos. “Clam Dip & Other Delights” was Soul Asylum’s parting effort for Twin/Tone before they signed to A&M Records. Its cover art famously parodied Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass’ Whip Cream & Other Delights. As the new liner notes say, “The band got to record a bunch of things that likely would never have made it to an album, raw and all over the map stylistically, but sounding vital even 30 years removed.”
The two releases — their final ones for Twin/Tone prior to signing to A&M — will be reissued in a combined CD release from Omnivore Recordings on January 18, 2019. The remastered recordings will include seven bonus tracks, four of which were never before released. The package contains the full track lists of both the U.K. and U.S. versions of “Clam Dip & Other Delights” EP.
Produced by Twin/Tone Records co-founder and Replacements manager Peter Jesperson and Grammy®-winner Cheryl Pawelski, these expanded reissues of Soul Asylum’s third album and EP collect rare outtakes and demos from this era, including seven bonus tracks as well as four completely unreleased songs. The packaging provides an array of never-before-seen photos, artwork, flyers, and liner notes by Superchunk drummer and social media star Jon Wurster.
Writes Wurster: “I would never begrudge Soul Asylum the mainstream success they achieved. God knows they paid their dues slugging it out in ratty clubs all those years. But for me, the wild, anything-goes aesthetic of the Twin/Tone years will always be my preference, and While You Were Out will always be my favorite.
TRACK LIST:
While You Were Out
1. Freaks
2. Carry On
3. No Man’s Land
4. Crashing Down
5. The Judge
6. Sun Don’t Shine
7. Closer To The Stars
8. Never Too Soon
9. Miracle Mile
10. Lap Of Luxury
11. Passing Sad Daydream
Bonus Track:
12. Take It To The Root (Jam Mix)
Clam Dip & Other Delights
13. Just Plain Evil
14. Chains
15. Secret No More
16. Move Over
17. P-9
18. Juke Box Hero
19. Artificial Heart
20. Take It To The Root
Previously Unissued Bonus Tracks:
21. Saving Grace
22. Forever And A Day
23. There It Goes
24. Artificial Heart (Demo)
