posted 09/20/2008 (Sat) @ 12:24 am
>>> Music Reviews
Bob Mould - District Line (2008)
Pop / Alternative Rock / Electronica
New Day Rising
- Stupid Now
- Who Needs To Dream?
- Again And Again
- Old Highs, New Lows
- Return To Dust
- The Silence Between Us
- Shelter Me
- Very Temporary
- Miniature Parade
- Walls in Time
A happier Bob Mould? He sure sounds comfortable in his current groove. Whereas his solo career has previously been marked by blatant pendulum swings between two polar opposites—indie rock and heavily-vocoded dance electronica—lately Mould has struck a cozy balance between the two. Modulate era fans will lap up “Shelter Me” while the traditionalists rally behind “Stupid Now,” the hardest rocking tune on District Line outside of the blistering guitar and pond-skipping blip-blop synth duet of “The Silence Between Us.” A (slightly overlong at over six minutes) acoustical outtake from Mould’s Workbook closes the disc.
Even “Shelter Me” is accessible to those with an open mind. Dizzying, shimmery pad swells and android drumming sweep Mould’s vocals along; any frugal plucks of guitar serve only as subtle accentuation, but the track is still far more organic, open and free-flowing than other dance club hitmongers like, say, Fatboy Slim or The Prodigy, summing up in a single track the direction which Mould seems intent upon steering his musical output.
While groovy all the same, the more “rock” moments on District Line tend toward an easy-going, midtempo head-bob the likes of “Very Temporary” and its simple vocal hook. Paired with some debatably awful lyricism for a musician of his history (”Just to please you, I’d blow my brains out, this is it/ Cut my heart out with a razor now”), it’s easy to say that Mould is coasting on the waves he used to make. Given the wide appeal and success of Hüsker Dü, a band Mould consistently derides as contributing to some of the worst times of his life, it’s also easy to see why. Still, “midtempo” is a word that never should have to be used to describe the musical output of someone who played guitar for the Hüskers.
District Line is a slam dunk in at least one sense: front to back, it’s a great pop album which openly wields production and electronic garnish as worthwhile techniques, without allowing complete obliteration of the rock analog underneath. The edge and breakneck pace of Hüsker Dü have dulled and slowed, but Mould certainly isn’t capable of writing a terrible song. He’s just happier and easier-going now, and that’s not necessarily a great thing if your fans happen to be agitated punks who still crave Sugar. Punks who can put down all expectations will grow comfortably old with Bob.
Tags: alternative, average, dance, electronica, husker du
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Pages tagged "bob mould" Says:
October 1st, 2008 at 12:46 pm[...] bookmarks tagged bob mould Bob Mould - District Line (2008) saved by 1 others hersoveela bookmarked on 10/01/08 | [...]
