Cassette Monday: Hang Time was Soul Asylum’s fifth LP, and major label debut, released on A&M Records in 1988. This is the first time in the history of this blog that I’ve covered a release from before the dawn of the 90s, but I think it’s justified in this case. Regardless of the fact that Soul Asylum had been releasing records since the early 80s (debut Say What You Will, Karl—Clarence Sold The Truck came out in 1984) and were often associated with undeniably 80s-era bands like Husker Du and the Replacements, the moment of their greatest fame came in the early 90s, with Grave Dancer’s Union and its popular single, “Runaway Train.” We talked about that single in the context of Seaweed a few days ago, and while I’ve never been a huge fan of that song, I think that Grave Dancer’s Union is a pretty good album. That said, I prefer the work Soul Asylum were doing a few years before. I wouldn’t really want to write about songs from Grave Dancer’s Union that we’re all still hearing on “best of the 80s, 90s and today” radio stations that get pumped into waiting rooms everywhere, and in so doing, ignore their earlier, better singles, purely because those singles are actually from the late 80s. And so, today we’re here to talk about Hang Time.
