Shiny Happy Person

If you read the G:TB bylaws closely, you'll note that we're obligated by our founders' intent to post about any new Old 97s or Bob Mould music. And since the latter just released a new record, we're here to fulfill our duty.

Bob Mould's music has been described in a great many ways, from bombastic to dark to cynical to loud to cathartic. It has rarely, if ever, been described as upbeat. So when one reads this about Mould's new record: "The LP contains 11 new songs that range from well-adjusted to super happy.", it's enough to raise an eyebrow or three.

Naming the album Sunshine Rock might've been a clue that this ain't 'Black Sheets of Rain', but Mould always did have a way of hiding dark themes in killer hooks and a wall of sound. This record, though, finds Bob in a happier personal place. And us with him.

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.

Roll Down the Windows, Turn Up the Volume

I'm headed to see one of my favorite bands this evening, which is great enough. But another of my all-timers just released a new record, so it's a bit of musical heaven for me at the moment. Pitchfork is streaming Bob Mould's new album, Beauty and Ruin, until June 3. If you dig the former Husker Du frontman's muscular rock, this one's right in your wheelhouse.

Here's a live version of the first single from the record, 'I Don't Know You Anymore':

Listen, There's Music in the Air

And NFL football, too. In honor of yesterday's real opening day, some kickass rock and roll from post-punk legend Bob Mould, who ripped through a 20-song set at the 9:30 Club Saturday night that has my ears still ringing. Mould played all of Sugar's 1992 record, Copper Blue, before taking a break to talk to the crowd. Then the band proceeded to play off of Mould's new record, Silver Age, which features 'The Descent', a return to Mould's power pop roots:



The band closed with Husker Du's 'Could You Be the One', an apt ode to my new football rooting experiment.



Capped off the evening with a chili half smoke from Ben's Chili Bowl, so my intestines were well prepared to make things uncomfortable for my neighbors at our Saints/Skins viewing party.

Happy Football.