CD Reviews

Bob Mould

District Line | Anti-

By TED DROZDOWSKI | February 20, 2008

3.0 Stars

The bristling sound of alternative rock — as the more refined pop-craft division of post-punk got dubbed in the late ’80s — was built on signatures like the rugged, droning guitar chug that drives “Stupid Now,” the opener of Bob Mould’s new solo disc. No surprise when you consider that Mould, along with Sonic Youth and the Pixies, was among the genre’s most influential architects as the leader of Hüsker Dü. Today his wall of six-strings is just slightly less imposing. The galloping juggernaut “Who Needs To Dream” could be a leftover from his sleek ’90s radio powerhouse group Sugar. Yet Mould’s growth as an arranger and songwriter can be measured in the vivid storytelling and acoustic/electric textures of a number like “Again and Again” — a road yarn and break-up song with undertones of menace and liberation. And the keyboards that colored his swan dive into dance music before he re-embraced rock with 2005’s Body of Song are simply another subtle layer of muscle for this sinewy disc.

Bob Mould Band | Paradise Rock Club, 967 Comm Ave, Boston | March 12 | 617.562.8800

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