News / / 17.07.14

Bob Mould

Beauty & Ruin (Merge)
16/20

Bob Mould, former lead singer and guitarist of 80s underground legends Hüsker Dü, has been making quite a resurgence over the last few years. The originators of punk influenced powerpop have been touring and performing Sugar’s landmark album Copper Blue as well as producing the outstanding 2012 album Silver Age. Mould has lost none of his aggressive intensity despite his years. New album Beauty & Ruin is a veritable pearl in which Mould’s reflective wisdom and emotive substance drips from every song.

Beauty & Ruin is a document of a truly testing year for Mould. After the death of his father he was forced to face the specter of his own mortality as well as the conclusiveness of a lifetime of experiences, good and bad. Opening track Low Season ebbs with all the flowing emotions synonymous with loss. A dusty tune, it bathes the listener in feeling until they are lifted by the dynamic folk thrust of Little Glass Pill. But it’s the single, I Don’t Know You Anymore that truly reminds us of how good a songwriter Mould really is. This is the seriously catchy stuff that propelled Sugar during the 90s.

Tempos tighten and wind up, giving us the glorious Kid With Crooked Face with all the ferocity of a Tasmanian devil. The doo-wop infused Nemeses Are Laughing collides and windmills to one of those beautiful goose bump finales. Despite the fluttering, sugary melodies, the lyrics juxtapose a darker awareness. None more so than The War, which dwells on the despair and anguish of a man lost in transition. Regret soon turns to redemption with Forgiveness turning the rudderless crisis into a revelation of personal development. Its melody takes a huge tug on the heartstrings as the touching lyrics reveal a man coming to terms.

Hey Mr Grey’s wry humour and careering chords deliver a self-depreciative dig at the concept of cliché́ that can derail as well as distinguish what we are. Fire In The City and Tomorrow Morning despite their catchiness do come over like the little brothers of early The Lemonheads and even the Foo Fighters. But it is the acoustic strum of the truly redemptive Let the Beauty In and the thrash of Fix It that make this album one that you will come back to, discovering pearl after pearl of inspired songwriting, heavy with poetry depth. Mould has proved here how relevant he still can be, with an album so brimming with memorable melodies and heart-wrenching lyric content. Beauty & Ruin is the sound of a man coming to terms with loss by reveling in the astounding talents that make up his conflicting character. A shining pearl for sure.

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Words: Phil Allen

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