New Day Rising

Opening pretty much as we'd come to expect - loud, fast and shouty - "New Day Rising" is an excellent (and prophetic, in term's of Mould's career) statement of intent. The production is pretty thin, the razor-sharp guitar sound, if anything, adding to the tension. They were re-writing the rules on pop, hardcore and punk in one fell swoop.

Songs like "...Heaven Hill", "I Apologise" and "If I Told You" prove that melody and dissonance can live happily ever after and "Folklore" is probably as political as the Huskers got at that point - the band always seemed to write personal songs. "Celebrated Summer" is a case in point and one of the best songs Husker Du recorded. It's brilliantly written and played. You get that sense of being a teenager again... Amazon should get an excerpt on its site - you really have to listen to it.

Grant Hart's wicked sense of humour makes appearances on "...Warfare" and "...UFOs" - again, two stand-out songs in an impressive back catalogue. The songs even sit well with Mould's tortured "Perfect Example" and "59 Times The Pain", which show that, for all the loud bravado, they're vulnerable too. "Powerline" is a good track, even though I can't fathom what the song is ABOUT... The last three songs are pretty much Husker Du wig-outs in the style of their previous opus "Zen Arcade" and round off the album in a suitably off-beat manner.

Three years and three albums later (the last two on Warners, the final one a double), it was all over for the band, undone by drink, drugs and suicide. Mould came back with solo releases and the moumental band Sugar. Hart formed Nova Mob and quickly became irrelevant. Bassist Greg Norton became a chef. Hmmm... However, the band's legacy will remain in the namechecks of cool alt-rock bands and more importantly, in recordings like this. Everyone with an interest in great songs needs to hear this album.

Songwriters Grant Hart and Bob Mould were getting better & better at their jobs - 'New Day Rising' is literally packed with great songs: 'Celebrated Summer', 'The Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill', 'Terms of Psychic Warfare', the wild-thrash of the opening title-track and the Ramonesesque 'Books About UFOs. There are some out and out rock songs Replacements-style - 'I Apologize', 'I Don't Know What You're Talking About' & the aforementioned 'Celebrated Summer.' This is countered by their more experimental side - the closing sequence of 'How to Skin a Cat', 'Whatcha Drinkin' & 'Plans I Make' explore avant-garde Pere Ubu-style music & return briefly to the thrash of 'Punch Drunk' & 'M.I.C.' & attentive listeners will note that 'Powerline', which I've always felt is not unlike Pere Ubu colliding with early-Cure (there's a superb version of this on 'The Living End')- listening to it now you can see elements of what would become math-rock or lo-fi, and I also think that its similar to what Interpol are doing these days...

'New Day Rising' was a brilliant peak, and one of the undoubted highlights of the 1980s alongside 'Evol', 'Hallowed Ground', 'Dial M for...', 'Hallowed Ground', 'Let It Be', 'Rock for Light', 'Up On the Sun' & a myriad of other joys. A reminder of the fertile indie-scene in the U.S. from the late-1970s to the time when 'Punk Rock broke' with Nirvana and the grunge-term was bandied about (Nirvana are obviously indebted, as are Foo Fighters, The Pixies & probably just about everyone else!). Husker Du would become even more melodic and make 'Flip Your Wig' (which is more their 'Revolver' in my opinion!) the following year, as well as doing key cover-versions of 'Eight Miles High' & 'Ticket to Ride.' A peak from that brilliant career...

The sound is essentially punk, very rough-and-ready in the production style, and with lots of angers and frustrations vented, but, even in their relatively young days, strong melodic pop sensibilities were also visible - the influence on groups from Nirvana to Ash is clear.

Celebrated Summer and I Apologise, both penned by Bob Mould, are perhaps the best of all, the latter exerting a great shuffling chorus amidst all the anguish, seemingly talking of a relationship indiscretion, while the former pounds through its verses and chorus before a mellowed bridge - curiously, metallers Anthrax once covered this.

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.