What a bunch of weirdos. That’s about the best way to explain what’s going on with Run Westy Run, the Twin Cities indie-rock band of the late ’80s that almost got famous in the ‘90s but then went 28 years without releasing an album. That finally changed last year when the group dropped “Beyond Reason,” a loose and lively collection that made it sound like the band members are having the time of their lives playing together again.
Minneapolis cult faves Run Westy Run to release second album in one year Friday
The band plays the Turf Club on release day to tout “Within Reason” after going 28 years without issuing a record.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
February 26, 2024 at 5:25PM
A sure indicator that truly is the case, the Westies already have another new album in the can just one year later. Coyly titled “Within Reason” — a nod to its close predecessor — the record is scheduled to arrive Friday on CD and via Bandcamp and streaming platforms. Its release will be celebrated with a release show Friday night at the Turf Club featuring longtime fan/pal Alan Sparhawk’s blues-blasting band the Black Eyed Snakes for openers.
The first single off the album, “27 O’Hare” (posted below), dropped over the weekend to hype the festivities. An all-too-relatable riff on being stuck in an overextended airport layover, the new track sounds like it could’ve fit in nicely on a record by co-founder Kraig Johnson’s sometimes-side-band Golden Smog.
Other songs on “Within Reason” range from the Buzzcocky opener “Vacant Armoire” — a showcase for Johnson and co-founder Terrance Fisher’s manic guitar dueling — to a wigged-out psychedelic groover called “Head Trash” to an elegant, almost swamp-poppy ballad titled “Look Through the Moon,” which sells lead Westies singer Kirk Johnson (Kraig’s brother) as a crooner.
They might be companion LPs in spirit, but “Beyond Reason” and “Within Reason” were made under very different circumstances. Last year’s LP was mostly recorded in one long, masked, exhale of a day during COVID-19 lockdown at Flowers Studio in Minneapolis. This one was made under a more relaxed, ideal setting up at Iron Range rock vet Rich Mattson’s Sparta Sound studio in northern Minnesota. And it turns out, these songs are just some of the new material they’ve been working on over the last year, according to drummer Peter Anderson.
“Kirk says this is the second part of a trilogy, so who knows what next year brings?” Anderson hinted/threatened.
Run Westy Run
With: Black Eyed Snakes
When: 8 p.m. Fri.
Where: Turf Club, 1601 University Av. W., St. Paul.
Tickets: $25, axs.com.
Critics’ picks for entertainment in the week ahead.
