The Glory of Within Your Reach

It took until the final episode of the season but The Replacements made an appearance on The Bear, and it was with their classic of beautiful classics, the uniquely brilliant Within Your Reach in all of its weird demo-tape drum machine-ness:

For context, the way the drum machine was used initially within rock drum contexts made them seem pale in comparison to utilizing the human Goliath drummers of the era. Drum machines in the rock world up to that point were relegated to demos. It was a place holder for drums, an afterthought to give your songs some semblance of feel in the absence of a drummer.

Its impact on the band was massive. It was the doorway into the group allowing similar songs into their careers and thus pushing them towards a group that was truly 3D and developmental. It was inevitable in more ways than one, they just had to let it happen. The group first let on that they were more serious than just teen angst and speed taking and jokes. Here was a song that none of their peers were doing just yet and it was on an album where the opening track was a drunken musical chairs. The album's critical reception surely thrived off of this track, a track that aches for connection.