Originally published in
The Aquarian Weekly
March 12, 2008
Bob Mould / District
Line
Anti-
ÒPlease listen to me,
and donÕt
disagree,Ó Bob Mould
pleads on ÒStupid
Now,Ó the opening track
of his new album.
He then proceeds over
the course of
10 tracks to demonstrate
why that is a
very good idea. In
recent years, Mould
has pulled off the
unlikely trick of
restraining some of the
frenzy that
marked his earlier
music, while losing
none of the intensity
that characterized
that seminal work.
Make no mistake; this is
not the work
of some mewling acoustic
folkie. Mould
is a mature, full-blown
electric rocker
who has seen enough to
know what
heÕs talking about. His
melodic gifts belie
an ability to craft
meaningful lyrics, often
about failed or failing
relationships, that
hit you where you live.
ÒPut down the cell
phone, and try to
be with me,Ó Mould
pleads on the
anguished ÒAgain And
Again,Ó a suicide
note set to music.
Amidst the swirling
electronic rhythms of ÒShelter
Me,Ó he
asks to be protected
from Òeverything
you.Ó A wilderness tour
turns into a
heartbreaking meditation
about a broken
romance on the
electrifying ÒThe Silence
Between Us.Ó
Bob Mould has a
quarter-century
musical legacy,
beginning with Õ80s punk
heroes Husker Du,
continuing in the
Õ90s with indie-rockers
Sugar, and
releasing six acclaimed
solo albums.
At age 47, he shows no
signs of backing
off, or backing up. We
are all the better
for it.
In A Word: Unleashed
Grade: A-
—by Ken Shane