Sugar/Bob Mould
Reissues
Vinyl reissues of ex-Hüsker Dü frontman’s albums, with original track listings.
Prior to forming Sugar, Bob Mould had briefly gone solo, opting for a less heavyduty, more introspective style, as if to imply that his rocking days were behind him. The success of grunge, however, which he had foreshadowed with Hüsker Dü, persuaded him that he could follow in the wake of that which he had anticipated. Sugar’s Copper Blue (1992, 9/10), featuring David Barbe and Malcolm Travis on bass and drums respectively, is one of his greatest records, tracks like The Act We Act paradigms of steakhouse guitars, heavy riffing and sweet-as-fuck chord changes, as if to say to Nirvana, Pixies, Dinosaur Jr: this is how it’s done.
The Beaster EP (1993, 8/10) structurally highlighted the dilemma that has always pushed and pulled Mould: whether to expand, to experiment, or to return and reclaim the classic territory he staked out in the mid-80s. That’s reflected even in the titles of the swirling Come Around and the organ-soaked Walking Away.
With 1994’s File Under: Easy Listening (8/10),
Mould was able to extract one last album from the Sugar formula, but realised that that was the end. Two live albums – The Joke Is Always On Us, Sometimes (7/10) and Besides (7/10) – included curios such as a version of Armenia City In The Sky, previously popularised by The Who in 1996.
Mould reverted to the simplicity of going solo with 1996’s self-titled album (8/10), on which (declaring on the sleeve: “This one is for me”) he played all the instruments. It sounds at times like it was recorded in a dungeon of introspection, with strange sonic tremors and quirks, but I Hate Alternative Rock is alternative rock to love. Last Dog And Pony Show (1998, 8/10) sees Mould flirt with electronica, but it’s no metamorphosis. Sweet Serene rocks as only Mould can.
2012’s Silver Age (8/10) sees Mould return as if having thinned with age, less fleshy, more defined, perhaps looking for a new mode of musical being to reflect the change of pace of middle age? But none of that. The Descent shows that he cannot resist doing what he does best: tidal but tenderised guitar rock.