Steve Albini and baseball go together like…Steve Albini and poker.
He’s appeared on the Baseball Prospectus podcast, he speaks about it often in interviews (sometimes using it as a metaphor or analogy, sometimes talking specifics about the sport itself or particular players/teams) and he references it in his lyrics. Like the Satchel Paige reference in “My Black Ass.” one time he even bet me a steak that the Mets would finish below .500 (I won the bet, but he was out of town when I went to Chicago to cash in). At one point he was even quoted as saying, “Once you get into baseball other team sports just look like variations on a theme. Dogs fighting over a rag doll.” Beyond that…I’m pretty sure he once said that every Shellac song was either about Canada or baseball. Most likely a joke, but the Paige reference on At Action Park shows he’s got a solid grasp on the history of the game.
First time I heard this album I was in Ian’s car, probably driving to or from Princeton Record Exchange. It might have been after his freshman year of college or before my freshman year. I don’t quite remember. It had to be before my sophomore year, because that’s when I purchased At Action Park, from L’Oblique in Montreal on the 6th of June, 2003. I guess that would be after my sophomore year of college? Why was I in Montreal in June? I think my record collection database might be off. I know I went record shopping in February of 2003 in Montreal when I was recording at Breakglass Studios…but why would I be back in Montreal that summer? And why would I wait 2 years after hearing it for the first time to go out and buy it? Maybe I just had it on CD for a while and eventually picked up the vinyl when the opportunity presented itself? Why does my memory suck so much?
Listen to At Action Park, and try to think of everything you hear as a reference to either Canada or baseball. Steve says so.
Shellac
At Action Park
(Touch & Go – TG141, 1994)
A1. My Black Ass [MP3]
A2. Pull The Cup
A3. The Admiral
A4. Crow
A5. Song Of The Minerals
B1. A Minute
B2. The Idea Of North
B3. Dog And Pony Show
B4. Boche’s Dick
B5. Il Porno Star
