The sound of the indie rock: 10 songs for (re) discover Bob Mould

There are names that are truly iconic and legendary, beyond the abuse that is made of these adjectives. Bob Mould is one of them: with Hūsker Dü, together with his partner Grant Hart, he is among the founding fathers of independent rock. The band came from the minneapolis hardcore scene, but united very high volume guitar with melodies and refrains. It was among the first to sign for a major and remained a model for the generations to come – so much so that Bob Mould, in the chat that gave birth to this piece, reminds me that he was among the candidates considered by the Nirvana to produce what would become “Nevermind”. The story went differently, but in 2011 Dave Grohl would have called him to collaborate with the Foo Fighters, also setting up a tribute concert.
Mould has a long and prolific career: the Hūsker Düs melted (very bad) in 87 and he began a solo path interrupted by another trio, the Sugar, who at the beginning of the 90s had a successful glow in the period of the grunge boom.
“Here We Go Crazy”, the new album, has just come out, the first in 5 years. The formula is the classic one: guitars and melodies, but to tell a world that goes apart. With Mould, who reached in Berlin via Zoom, we put together a playlist of a dozen songs of his career, told and explained, to rediscover one of the great American independent rock: after all you find the playlist. Bob Mould will return to Italy after many years, for two concerts in November, 11 and 12 Rome and Milan.

“Here we go crazy” / “By Your Side”

The opening song and the closing song of the new album, a sort of introduction to an album that tells how to survive in a world that seems to be crazy.
Bob Mould: “Here We Go Crazy” had not been written as Title Track.

While I was working on the new songs it seemed clear to me that it was the strongest statement I could make right now. My previous album, “Blue Hearts”, was more political, here I wanted to share a time and a place: the last few years and the desert of southern California, where my husband and I spend a lot of time. Palm Springs is a very LGBTQ friendly city, it is surrounded by mountains, very beautiful but it is a very different life from the musician that I usually do. For me this song is a bit like the intro of “Sgt. “By Your Side” is the closure, it’s the end of history: if the world is collapsing, I want to be next to you. It is a song that I wrote showing my husband how the music of Minneapolis played: he uses that type of progression of agreements. It simply happened: the refrain seems to have come out of a college rock radio of the 80s. ”.

“Dear Rosemary” (Foo Fighters)

It is not a song by Bob Mould, but shows the respect that enjoys the American rock: for “Wasting Light” of 2011 Dave Grohl calls Mould to sing with him and he also takes him on tour. If there had not been the Hüsker Dü, the Nirvana would not have existed.
Bob Mould: “I knew Dave from his time in a hardcore and Kurt band since Seattle’s time.

I was taken into consideration to produce what would become ‘Nevermind’, but I’m glad it went as it went. We played together in ’91, ‘The Year The Punk Broke’, as a documentary said. In 2010 we found ourselves in A Washington, DC, at 9:30 Club, for a celebration, a kind of anniversary of the club. It was where Dave probably had seen the Hüsker Düs play when he was a boy. He said to me, ‘I would like you to help me write a song for the new album.’ I imagined the central part of that song, the bridge, as if I played a 12 -string guitar solo at byrds, at Roger McGuinn. Dave brought me on tour and was generous to share his audience and fame with me. “

“Poison Years” / “See a Little Light”

Bob Mould’s solo career began in 1988, after the end of the Hūsker Düs, with an acoustic album that displaced the fans, but who remains a masterpiece in his own way. Do we still live in poisoned years? “See a Little Light” instead 20 years later became the title of his autobiography.
Bob Mould: “For me it was a heavy period, at the time. The end of my band, I retired to a farm in Northern Minnesota. “See a Little Light” is instead a more optimistic song: I wrote it after purchasing a new guitar, the blue stratocaster that I used for many years, but granting it like a dulcimer.

“Black Sheets of Rain”

The second solo album of Mould: we return to the electrician, but with an even more dark sound – a song loved by fans (and often played by Ryan Adams, a big fan of Mould and the Hūsker Dü).
Bob Mould: “It engraved with the same rhythmic section, with Tony Maimone on bass and Anton Fier of the Golden Palominos on drums: I always worked in a trio, with my bands and alone.

“If I Can’t Change Your Mind” (Sugar)

After two first solo records, Mould founded a new band, Sugar, always a power trio. They will last a few years, but become a little great success, especially in England.
Bob Mould: “I believe that the sigar and Hüsker Dümn format was familiar to my audience, that there was also a right distance: guitar, bass, drums, strong and melodic songs, shorter. Replied very well and then the commercial radios followed the example and started playing the song, and therefore Sugar became very popular in the United States.

“I’m Sorry, Baby, but you can’t stand in My Light Any More”

A leap forward in the solo career. After the Sugar, Bob Mould first experiences with electronics and djing. Then he returns to his sound, especially with 2009 “Life and Times”: this is a classic acoustic mid -time at Mould – always in his ladders.
Bob Mould: “For me it is a song that is structurally and soundly very similar to those of the 70s, that era of the FM radio with sad ballads.

“The War”

From “Beauty and Ruin”, album of 2014: the song with which Bob Mould usually opens his concerts.
Bob Mould: “It is a good song, with a nice pace. ‘Well’, everything works. “

“Celebrated Summer” / “Ice Cold Ice”

Let’s close cOn some songs by the Düsker, two classics from “New Day Rising”, 1985, and “Warehouse: Songs and Stories”, 1987. “Ice Cold Ice”, and above all “Celebrated Summer “ Song that is constantly played at the concerts by Mould, one of his most loved.

Bob Mould: “’Ice Cold Ice’ is the favorite song of Dave Grohl.
‘Celebrated Summer’, on the other hand, still sounds it today.

It is a song that is a sort of story of the end of youth. The end of summer, admitting that we have now grown up and have responsibilities, but we can always look back for a moment. “

“Flip Your Wig” / “Makes no sense at all”

The songs of the Hüsker Dü most loved by Mould, by the 1985 “Flip Your Wig”
Bob Mould: “I think it’s my favorite album and the song is really beautiful. be the beatles.