Bob Mould has been writing brilliant songs since his previous band Hüsker Dü first appeared in the early 80s. I only picked up on his songwriting genius though, when his next band venture, Sugar, created one of the 90s classic albums, the punk/pop glory of Copper Blue. Delving back into the Hüsker Dü back catalogue didn’t fill me with as much excitement though. After the excellent yet acerbic Beaster album and one more album, Sugar disbanded. Bob went back to being a solo artist and here he is with his 15th solo album, entitled Here We Go Crazy.
Self-producing, Bob is joined by drummer Jon Wurster and bassist Jason Narducy, who do an excellent job of creating the unique tones of Sugar, and this time Bob’s got the great tunes to match. The guitar tones and ferocious drumming throughout this album really do take you back to the halcyon days of grunge breaking through, when Bob found a new space to reach out to a wider audience. Sugar were signed to label of the moment Creation Records. NME and Melody Maker tripped over themselves firing platitudes to both recorded output and live appearances. Mould doesn’t do things by halves, every note and word spat on this album has a vigour that belies his age of 64.
Opening with the title track ‘Here We Go Crazy’, the trademark Mould wall of guitars chug with urgent intent, as Bob revisits the melody bank of yesteryear for a song that could easily fit into Copper Blue. The carefree chant of the chorus of “Here we go crazy!” is a euphoric blast. Choppy drums splatter underneath searing guitars on ‘Neanderthal’ as Bob spits out vitriolic vocals, age has not diminished his rage. Crisp snare punches threaten to derail the steady ‘Breathing Room’ which glides along smoothly with keyboards duelling with fuzzy guitars. Drums get a righteous pounding on the hard charging ‘Hard To Get’, Bob’s ire matching them with punctuated words.
‘When Your Heart Breaks’ actually benefits from Bob’s voice becoming richer with age as he pushes himself to the limit, every word delivered with full throated emotion. The bizarrely named ‘Fur Mink Augers’ takes a firm grip like the evasive little rascal mentioned in the title, shaking you to submission. ‘Lost Or Stolen’ is something of an outlier with acoustic guitar replacing the roar of the distortion. The minimal accompaniment exposing Bob’s well-worn vocal cords, but as the song starts to gain momentum you get a close-up of the emotional edge he has with his voice cracking in places.
Bob often pulls off the neat trick of cramming as much as he can into a song, so that the minimal two minutes of ‘Sharp Little Pieces’ contains a plethora of cracking riffs, thunderous drum rolls, and sublime hooks and melodies. In ‘You Need To Shine’ snappy guitars hark back to 80s new-wave punk as Bob demands “you need to shine!” and you nod in agreement. He then slaps out a glorious Copper Blue grade bendy guitar solo to help you achieve full happiness. ‘Thread So Thin’ opts for a slower churning groove than the other tracks as Bob endeavours to stop himself from spiralling out of control again. Finally, ‘Your Side’ has a gentle and warm intro that finds Bob go all tender, yet he still sounds on edge, his voice is more suited to the angry songs. You feel it’ll snap and sure enough it kicks off as the seismic chorus drops on you.
Given Bob’s previous highlights with Sugar, I delved now and then into his subsequent solo work. Copper Blue is one of my all-time favourite albums, I can play it any time and thoroughly enjoy its noisy charms. Bob’s voice remains so caustic and sounds best when surrounded by a fierce wall of guitars. Previous records naturally have inclinations towards the Sugar tones, how could they not when you have such a distinctive style? Here We Go Crazy is coated in a wonderful veneer that shines up close to the punk/pop perfection of Copper Blue.
