Bob Mould – Patch The Sky

 

Bob Mould – Patch The Sky

By

Jesse E. Mullen

 

You’ve led two critically acclaimed and highly influential groups. You’ve inspired dozens of groups to follow in your footsteps. And now you’ve made two recently acclaimed albums about aging as a punk musician. Where do you go from here?

So was the story of Bob Mould in 2016. The former Husker Du and Sugar leader had felt rejuvenated in the wake of his 2011 memoir See A Little Light. And writing the book seems to have greatly influenced his style of songwriting in the years following it.

If 2012’s Silver Age showed Mould making sense of the challenges of aging, 2014’s Beauty & Ruin was even more specific. Songs like “Let The Beauty Be” read like letters to Mould’s younger self. “Hey Mr. Grey” turns middle-aged cliches into a rock anthem.

Like his hero Pete Townshend before him, Bob Mould is always best when working within a specific concept. So, when Mould announced Patch The Sky for release in March 2016, fans had high hopes it could measure up to both of the albums preceding it. But how does it stack up?

Leadoff track “Voices In My Head” features a rising and falling melody, and warm (slightly fuzzy) electric guitars. But the lyrics tell a slightly darker picture. Mould sings of “strange hallucinations” and shutting out the outside world. He also broaches the topic of suicide.

The song ultimately has a positive conclusion, however. Towards the end, Mould sings of “getting on with life instead” and letting go of all his “ghosts and demons.” It’s atypical subject matter for a Mould opener, but one which stirs the thoughts of the listener.

Elsewhere, Mould is in more familiar territory. The powerpoppy “You Say You” and “The End Of Things” again show Mould’s affinity for loud, up-tempo Who-styled rock. “Daddy’s Favorite” could have fit on Beauty & Ruin with Mould again addressing his younger self. With both of his parents now deceased, Mould was able to fully reflect on his upbringing.

I would be remiss not to mention the band chemistry at play on this album. Drummer Jon Wurster of Superchunk is a force behind the kit as always. His muscular fluidity, sheer power, and tight fills bring the songs to life. It is tempting to say that he is the best drummer Mould has ever worked with. (No offense to Grant Hart or Malcolm Travis.)

Bassist Jason Narducy plays with a melodic heaviness that blends with Mould’s fuzzy leads. A strong guitarist in his own right, Narducy’s role is almost that of a rhythm guitarist – similarly to Lou Barlow’s role in Dinosaur Jr.

Of course, Mould is the star of the show, playing and singing his heart out. He is in fine voice throughout, singing (and occasionally shouting) his way through melodically. As the singer and songwriter, he is naturally the emotional center. But his performances are indeed commendable.

“Black Confetti” is perhaps the best song of all. A blurry, fuzzed-out shoegazing track, it displays Mould’s love for My Bloody Valentine. Mould has made no secret of his love for that group’s 1991 opus Loveless. He wrote extensively in his memoir of how it felt like a distillation of all he had wanted to achieve with electric guitars in Husker Du.

Here, he is finally able to capture the sound in one song. A whirring, droning minor key guitar melody with barre chords and plenty of tremolo gives the track a hazy feeling. And the tight mid-tempo drumming of Wurster holds the entire thing together. The cumulative effects of the production, sonics, and arrangement are hair-raising in their meditative qualities.

With Patch The Sky, Bob Mould proves again that getting older can be a great inspiration in the right hands. While some artists may be limited by their advancing age, Mould isn’t afraid of the ghosts of his past or the voices in his head.

Merge/2016

 

 

 

 

 

Superchunk - Here's Where the Strings Come In

 

Superchunk - Here's Where the Strings Come In

By

Jesse E. Mullen

 

You’ve run a record label out of your parent’s house. You’ve played in bands of note in the triangle of North Carolina. You’ve dated your bandmate and label co-owner, broken up (romantically), and made an album about the experience.

So was the story of Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance and their pet projects Merge Records and Superchunk in 1995. Superchunk recorded a raw, emotional masterpiece in Foolish the previous year. They had always received critical acclaim, but that record took them to new heights artistically.

Their audience was certainly clamoring for more, but the question remained – could they break out beyond their devoted cult? “Hyper Enough” answers that pretty quickly, crashing out of the gate as track one, and delivering Superchunk a bona fide college rock hit. 

McCaughan had been doing home recordings on his four-track recorder under the alias Portastatic. Their sound bled over to Superchunk and had an effect on McCaughan’s writing as a whole. This is immediately apparent on “Silver Leaf and Snowy Tears.”

With a danceable drum beat and New Order-esque guitar leads, the song is instantly lovable. McCaughan is now content to let the melodies shine on their own instead of shouting over them. Which isn’t to say he’s content writing slow songs.

“Iron On” displays vestiges of the old Superchunk, but with more refined guitars and vocals. McCaughan waxes nostalgic about an old relationship and his younger days. He sings about driving a girl home in the rain and it’s easy to wonder if he’s singing about Ballance.

The guitars crunch and chug along in a major key, and it’s a joy to hear McCaughan and Jim Wilbur cut loose. Years of touring and recording has only sharpened their attack. Jon Wurster’s drums crash like thunder, and makes the listeners feel like his kit is next to them.

Second single “Detroit Has A Skyline” didn’t have the radio success of “Hyper Enough,” but it did succeed in becoming a crowd favorite at shows. Relationship woes are again the soup du jour, with McCaughan lamenting an unrequited crush. The fiery deliver is perfect for pogoing in the concert setting.

Bands either evolve or die out. For some, that can spell the end of their winning streak. Others flourish within the confines of their genre while making small changes. Superchunk fall into the latter category. Their earliest albums will always hold a place in fans’ hearts, but it’s Here’s Where The Strings Come In where Superchunk truly blossom.

Merge/1995

 

 

Archers of Loaf – Vee Vee

Archers of Loaf – Vee Vee

By

Jesse E. Mullen

Vee Vee is without a doubt the Archers at their peak. With the album utilizing a more unified, and fleshed out (though no less intense) sound than Icky Mettle, they tackle their songs with a flat, dry production, preserving all of the energy of the four musicians, and giving us the closest recorded effort to sounding like one of their live shows (excluding Seconds Before The Accident, and Curse of the Loaf of course, the two actual live albums put out by the group.) Highlights include the hard-hitting melodic, alternately tuned "Harnessed In Slums," the majestic "Greatest of All Time," which predates Pavement's similarly low e-string heavy ballad "Grounded" by a month. Also, the mellow, slightly experimental "Floating Friends" seems to point to the sparser, sound fx heavy material on the loaf's last two albums, All The Nation's Airports and White Trash Heroes. The guitar interplay between Eric Bachmann and Eric Johnson has not waned in the two years between Vee Vee and their debut (Icky Mettle.) They continue to use their counter melodies in beautiful and aggressive ways, and although not a lot has changed on that front, they've had it perfected since the beginning. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Alias Records/1995