I just finished Matmos’ Drew Daniels’ entry in the 33 1/3 series, 20 Jazz Funk Greats. He contemplates the album by industrial music pioneers Throbbing Gristle, and I was left wondering if it’s possible to make art that remain perverse and transgressive. On 20 Jazz Funk Hits, the band tried to confront the audience and larger culture, but there comes a point when you wonder if the most perverse thing TG could have done was make an Eric Clapton album.

The Replacements’ Twin/Tone releases were just reissued by Rhino, and yesterday I listened to the Let It Be bonus tracks, particularly the covers of T. Rex’s “20th Century Boy,” the Grass Roots’ “Temptation Eyes” and the DiFranco Family’s “Heartbeat – It’s a Lovebeat.” Hearing them reminded me what was so cool about their cover of “Black Diamond.” The covers were ragged, but none are particularly satisfying as listening experiences. It’s not clear the band even likes the songs based on the performances – “Black Diamond” included – but when they released their version in 1984, those of us who grew up on ’70s metal and thought we had to retire those albums for punk could think again. Those songs and bands were cool again, or, the Replacements were uncool just like us.