HUSKER DU – ” The Albums “ | The Fat Angel Sings

HUSKER DU – ” The Albums “

Posted: November 4, 2017 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
Tags: Bob Mould, Grant Hart, Greg Norton, Husker Du, Minnesota, SST Records, St Paul

Hüsker Dü are widely regarded as one of the key bands to emerge from the 1980s American indie scene.

Hüsker Dü’s range. From 1982 to 1987, the band issued seven superb albums (counting 1983’s Metal Circus 12-inch EP, their first for SST) that remained louder than hell while exploring everything from folk to psychedelia to pure pop — albeit as heard through a lint filter much of the time.

After decades of animosity that followed their 1988 breakup, an upcoming boxed set from Hüsker Dü has, at least in part, helped the defunct band’s trio of members forge a working relationship, bassist Greg Norton said, “We don’t physically get together or conference call. But at least there’s a level of communication.” He and his former bandmates Bob Mould and Grant Hart have long since gone their separate ways. After years as a chef with his own restaurant, Norton is playing bass again in a band called Porcupine, planning to record soon, while Hart is reportedly working on a concept album about the life of the “Unabomber,” Ted Kaczynski.

Bob Mould later released two solo albums before forming Sugar in the early 1990s, while Hart released a solo album on SST and later formed Nova Mob. Norton was initially less active musically after Hüsker Dü’s demise and focused on being a restaurateur instead .Bob Mould has been regularly touring and recording as a solo act.

They launched a website to sell the band’s merchandise, which naturally prompted a spell of reunion rumors

“A few years ago, I did an interview with a paper when we were ready to go live with the Hüsker Dü website that you could order merchandise from,” Norton , that eventually evolved into the archival project that became Savage Young Dü, which arrives November. 10th. The Numero Group executives who were pushing the boxed set then found a tape containing an alternative version of their 1982 Land Speed Record album in the piles maintained by friend of the band, Terry Katzman. They knew they were onto something. “If you’re a fan of this band, you’ve heard Land Speed a million times,” the label co-founder Ken Shipley said. “But if you heard a totally different version of that same record and it sounded better … it’s like, this is actually what you want, you just don’t know it yet.”

Numero will be releasing Savage Young Dü, a three-disc box, plus an extensive, 144-page booklet written by Erin Osman, that chronicles the band’s evolution prior to its 1983 SST signing. Containing 69 tracks recorded between 1979 and 1982, Savage Young Dü features all of the band’s 7-inches from the period, including “Statues”/”Amusement” (which Numero reissued on vinyl in 2013 as a Record Store Day special) and 1982’s “In a Free Land”; a remastered version of Hüsker Dü’s second album, 1983’s Everything Falls Apart; an alternate version of their 1982 debut, Land Speed Record; and a heap of demos, alternate takes, and live versions of a number of previously unreleased songs. And all of it sounds incredible — even the cruddiest source material rings through with maximal volume and clarity.

Everything Falls Apart

‘Everything Falls Apart’ (1983)

Keeping with the punk mindset of the era, Husker Du’s debut album doesn’t even reach the 20-minute mark. Almost everything here is played at triple speed, giving little indication of the depth that would surface on the following year’s double-album masterwork ‘Zen Arcade.’ Like fellow Minneapolis punks the Replacements’ first LP, ‘Everything Falls Apart’ is almost ashamed of the hearts beating beneath the noise and guitars. They’d soon get over that.

Zen Arcade

‘Zen Arcade’ (1984)

Just one year after their scene-specific debut, Husker Du doubled down on their second album, a sprawling two-record wasteland of post-punk noise and ambitious prog-like heft. There’s even a concept running throughout the album, a landmark record of the college-rock movement. Songwriters Bob Mould and Grant Hart weren’t trying to wrestle control of the group yet, so there’s a harmony to the songs, even the 14-minute closer, a dizzying display of punk rock’s industrious potential in the mid ’80s.

Of the many fantastic American indie guitar albums released in 1984, Husker Du’s “Zen Arcade” is arguably among the best. All the more remarkable when you consider that it was made on less than a shoestring, much of it recorded live, despite the backdrop of political pro U.S.A. Reaganism sloganeering in the media and British “second invasion” twaddle dominating the U.S charts at the time. Husker Du created music which reached out to a polarised underground U.S. punk community and more importantly helped give it a voice.

If you have never heard this record before then you will be surprised how musicaly diverse it is. First of all it’s a concept double album based loosely around the story of a young runnaway escaping a broken home into a world of drugs and violence. The 23 songs range from melodic hardcore (“Pride”, “I will Never Forget You”), bizarre instramentals (“Tooth Fairy”, “Reocurring Dreams”) acoustic folk (“Never Talking To You Again”), indie pop (“Pink Turns To Blue”, “Somewhere”) and progressive rock wig-outs (“Turn On The News”, “What’s Going On”).

New Day Rising

‘New Day Rising’ (1985)

The first of Husker Du’s two albums in 1985 is a powerhouse rock ‘n’ roll record that sheds some of the more sprawling idealism found on its double-record predecessor ‘Zen Arcade.’ They pack 15 songs into 40 whiplash minutes, barely letting up. The punk influences, so prevalent just a few years earlier, are knocked back in favor of some truly tuneful moments like “Celebrated Summer.” And the raging title track is one of their all-time best.

Among the other highlights include If I Told You, 59 Times the Pain and Terms Of Pyschic Warface, the latter perhaps their most radio-friendly track up to this point, but there’s nary a duff track here, except perhaps the rather throwaway one-line opener. A classic album, then, the influence of which is still being heard today.

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