Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Period, Exclamation Point

Jon Wurster, drummer for Superchunk, the Mountain Goats, and for the past several years Bob Mould, says that the latter's new album, Patch the Sky, "really feels like a period on a sentence". Wurster's referencing the three-album cycle that began with 2012's Silver Age, continued with Beauty and Ruin in 2014, and concludes with Patch the Sky.

The records marked a return to the guitar-heavy punkpop that's characterized so much of Mould's career, from Husker Du on. And in a crossing of rock threads, Mould says we have Dave Grohl to thank for the three albums. In a revealing and detailed Stereogum profile, Mould remembers a 2011 concert appearance with Foo Fighters, "Dave, fuck, how much has he given me in the last five years. Dave doesn’t even know what he did, by helping put the light on me for a minute. Shine a light on the monster again."

The monster is alive and well. Patch the Sky is scheduled for release in late March. Here's the first single, 'Voices in My Head'. It's vintage Mould, tinged with darkness, guitar-driven melody, and the singer's gruff, self-conscious voice. Dig it.

14 comments:

  1. His voice hasn't aged at all, but the rest of him not so much.

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  2. I finally got around to seeing Creed last night. A worthy extension of the Rocky franchise. Count me in for Creed 2.

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  3. Just got a scrip for cough syrup w/ codeine. Sizzurp party tonight.

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  4. Took a swig of Nyquil last night, followed by a spoonful of kid's motrin due to 2 consecutive nights of poor sleep. Wow did that work! Still feeling the effects.

    Heading out the door for 2 nights to one of the best places on our earth - Sea Island. If you have the means....(or if your company pays for it...)

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  5. i can't recommend seeing bob live more strongly. bring earplugs, though. the band turns it up well past 11.

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  6. Here's how you know you are having a dumb day: I honest to goodness thought while reading the first part of the comment, that Mark finally got around to seeing the band Creed. Was waiting for the punchline. Then realized my error and felt very stupid.

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  7. What error? I was totally talking about Creed the band. That Scott Stapp fella seems like a real cool guy.

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  8. creed being the band from orlando that blew up instead of 7m3 seems a little bit criminal.

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  9. also thought mark saw creed, but just for a moment. then remembered.

    also, picked up a plastic tube this morning, removed the top, applied some to my lips THEN asked my wife: "this is chapstick, right? not a gluestick?"

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  10. I gave my kid Pepto Bismol last night, instead of his similarly colored strep throat medicine. He was bummed after ingesting it and hating it, when I told him he still had to take the medicine. Sleep-deprived dad moment.

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  11. He must have been really upset about the Rams leaving for LA.

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  12. bummer...I did not win Powerball.

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  13. This song as the first single has me a little worried about the record. While Beauty and Ruin has some good tunes on it, it was not comparable to Silver Age which is top to bottom one his best in a very long time.

    Needless to say vinyl was already pre-ordered. Had just enough from my powerball winnings of $28.

    And Rob is right. Go see him live. Hell of a show and he started playing Husker Du tunes about 7 years ago. So you are bound to here 3-4 tunes from that era.



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