Husker Du

Nice to see other fans on here who appreciate them. Must start digging further into the back catalogue.

The early stuff is a bit strange, they started off writing punkish songs that weren't too fast, then in 1981 hardcore speedcore ultracore kicked in, and by 85 they were writing guitar pop with a fuzzbox. A hell of a journey very quickly.

Recommended stuff:

Land Speed Record Everything Falls Apart (and more) Metal Circus Zen Arcade New Day Rising Flip Your Wig Candy Apple Grey Warehouse Songs And Stories The Living End.

All of it

Are the solo careers as good?

bob mould may be sour but he's one the nicest guys to talk to after a show. His sense of humor is fantastic.

Are the solo careers as good?

In a word, no.

Bob's always been very angry and angsty in his solo work, with only occasional lighter moments (check out "Trade" on the Modulate album, it's a song he wrote in 1987 when the Huskers were still together but had never known how to record and do it justice). His voice can grate as well on complete albums, that was the beauty of Husker Du in that every other song had a different singer, live and on record. The Sugar stuff is pretty much excellent though, some really powerful songs (and the loudest band I've ever heard!).

Grant's solo career is even more patchy. The first album was excellent, then he formed Nova Mob, completely lost the plot with "Admiral of the Sea" and then did a great eponymous Nova Mob album. He also released a strange live acoustic album "Ecce Homo" (the title a direct dig at Bob's displeasure at being outed by the NME), and his most recent album Good News For Modern Man didn't live up to the title.

I think they supported the Pixies on tour some time ago (late 80's/early 90's) - they were pretty good, though I never got round to buying their albums.

Got a limited Sugar 7" single (in a brown cardboard sleeve) when it was released... Must play it at some point!

Nick King wrote: I think they supported the Pixies on tour some time ago (late 80's/early 90's) - they were pretty good, though I never got round to buying their albums.

Got a limited Sugar 7" single (in a brown cardboard sleeve) when it was released... Must play it at some point!

Nah, they split in late 87, before the Pixies started doing anything. They certainly wouldn't have been supporting the likes of Pixies at that stage, even if the two bands had co-existed. The Pixies advert for a bass player wanted someone into "Husker Du and Peter, Paul and Mary" - Kim got the deal!

oldmonkey wrote:

Nick King wrote: I think they supported the Pixies on tour some time ago (late 80's/early 90's) - they were pretty good, though I never got round to buying their albums.

Got a limited Sugar 7" single (in a brown cardboard sleeve) when it was released... Must play it at some point!

Nah, they split in late 87, before the Pixies started doing anything. They certainly wouldn't have been supporting the likes of Pixies at that stage, even if the two bands had co-existed. The Pixies advert for a bass player wanted someone into "Husker Du and Peter, Paul and Mary" - Kim got the deal!

maybe he was speaking of sugar touring with pixies.

Yes, maybe. Possibly not quite an overlap the other way this time though, Sugar was mid-92 onwards, which was when Pixies imploded. Would have been quite a bill, Sugar and Pixies on the same night!