In these miserable days that are defined by the actions of amoral national leadership seemingly committed to tearing down every last thing of worth to average citizens and grace to the rest of the world, I take a small sliver of solace in the simple fact that Bob Mould is still making amazing music that demands to played extremely loud. “Neanderthal,” Mould’s new single, should test the capacity of every last volume button.
Here We Go Crazy, the new album from Bob Mould, is scheduled for release in March.
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The new single sounds good! I’m cautiously looking forward to the new album.
I thought his mid-teens trilogy of Silver Age/Beauty and Ruin/Patch the Sky was very strong. I was expecting a dramatic turn with Sunshine Rock, as it seems like he can’t do more than three solo albums without changing things up. It was indeed more “happy” but not the about-faces that Modulate and Silver Age were. I almost wished Sunshine was more of a change because while I never thought it was a bad album, it never gelled with me. The same goes with Blue Hearts–I didn’t care for “American Crisis” and can’t even remember what the rest of the album sounds like (other than it being “angry rock”.) I should revisit it and see what my feeling is, five years later.
And reflecting on that last sentence, this is the longest period Mould has gone without releasing new music. The gaps between Last Dog and Pony Show and Modulate, or Life and Times and Silver Age, while feeling long at the time, were only three and a half years.
I think “angry rock” means you remember Blue Hearts accurately. I liked that album a lot at the time (it made my ten-best list for 2020), but it’s not one I’m likely to grab for very often now. The opening line of “American Crisis” (“I never thought I’d see this bullshit again”) sure does cycle through my head a lot these days, though.
I knew it had been an atypically long time between albums for Bob Mould, but it didn’t realize the gap was basically unprecedented, especially because it feels like he’s been very present with regular touring. I appreciate you pointing that out.
Thanks. I agree that “angry rock” was appropriate for the time (and still appropriate now), but sometimes music that is really tied to a moment in time or especially in an intense moment in our lives is hard to listen to again.
My example is “Identikit”, the second and last album by Burning Airlines, the project J Robbins formed after the dissolution of Jawbox. I listened to it quite a bit when it was released, even though it wasn’t as good as the debut. But the album had the misfortune of coming out in September 2001, which not only means 9/11, but it was when I had a brief fling with an out-of-town girl that I hoped would lead somewhere, but a second visit from her led nowhere. Those intense emotions means I rarely, if ever, have listened to the album again. (That, and seeing the band live, where J seemed angry the whole show. The band didn’t last much longer.) I should pull it out and see how it holds up.
And yeah, Mould has made a good show of looking busy without putting out new music. Seems to be a trend with older musicians. I hope he still puts out recordings.