BOB MOULD: AN APPRECIATION

One of the best if not the best concert(s) I have ever seen was Husker Du at the University of Oregon in early 1985. They were the loudest band I have ever experienced but I was also amazed by how easy it was to discern their strong 1960’s type melodies through the volume.

Husker Du is my favorite American band of the 1980’s and my second favorite American band of all time. After the Huskers broke up, both Bob Mould and Grant Hart put out solo records. However Hart’s output over the years while excellent in places has not been very prolific. Mould, on the other hand, now has quite a good sized discography of mostly superb quality with a new record PATCH THE SKY coming out next month.

Mould on his own - Songwriting shows a strong Richard Thompson influence but without the British folkie atmosphere. He also delves into Neil Young territory in the hard and soft alternating sounds. His two favorite topics are the painful end of relationships and general doom and gloom in the world at large. His voice is best described as an alternately mournful and raging bellow.

Mould’s first solo album WORKBOOK was a fairly quite record, almost chamber pop a lot of the time recorded with Mould on guitar and keyboards plus a rhythm section and a cellist(?!). Powerful songwriting here – Poison Years, Sinner and Their Remembrances, Lonely Afternoon, Heartbreak a Stranger. A few loud guitar moments especially on the closer Whichever Way the Wind Blows.

His second album BLACK SHEETS OF RAIN was the polar opposite. A loud power trio record with all kinds of feedback laden guitar. The slow songs are dirgy and heavy, the fast songs are noise pop like the Huskers or a Mould influence The Buzzcocks. Not a bad song here.

Next Mould formed the band Sugar which made two records and an ep. The first record COPPER BLUE is a masterpiece. It feels more alive than his first two solo albums and every song is brilliant and amazingly poppy (all written and sung by Mould). Also his guitar work is superb. I did not care too much for the second Sugar album wherein he seemed to be out of inspiration.

Mould then broke up Sugar and made two solo records of varying quality. BOB MOULD was largely Mould by himself in the studio. It feels a bit stuffy and the songs are competent but overall unremarkable. THE LAST DOG AND PONY SHOW was a little better with more guitar and more diverse songwriting.

After that, Mould took a few years off and got interested in electronic club music. The result was MODULATE, just a brilliant record wherein Mould turns up the alienation and replaces the guitars for the most part with electronics and tape loops and alters his voice with a vocoder. Very unexpected and one of my favorite albums of the 2000’s.

BODY OF SONG brought back the guitars and melded them with leftover electronic tunes from MODULATE. Nice record in places, I like it.

DISTRICT LINE and LIFE AND TIMES are semi-acoustic song collections. Consistent and played with feeling, LINE is slightly better on a song per song basis but LIFE contains one of Mould’s best kiss-off songs I’m Sorry Baby But You Can’t Stand In My Light Anymore.

Next came SILVER AGE which brings back the guitars with a vengeance. I think his songwriting is a bit fiercer and less whiny here. Steam of Hercules is one of his heaviest unrelenting songs of all time.

His last record BEAUTY AND RUIN was even better. Fast powerful and clean. Every song catchy and sharp. His best record since MODULATE and one of the best records of this decade.

Looking forward to PATCH THE SKY.