Husker Du : Classic or Dud, Search and Destroy.

I remember liking Warehouse in high school. It was the first thing I heard by them, though. And I never really became a fan - I started going backwards immediately and didn't like Candy Apple Grey very much and hated Flip Your Wig, so I pretty much stopped there. Heard one or two songs from Zen Arcade and New Day Rising eventually, but by then was firmly un-sold. The Mould-related thing I come closest to really loving is Black Sheets of Rain.

Sugar, dude.

serious q: do you think these guys could actually work up the appropriate head of steam to play husker du songs again?

― tylerw, Thursday, 15 October 2015 19:42 (5 minutes ago) Permalink

I saw Mould do an (almost) all Huskers set in the Entry (!) last yr with Narducy and Wurster it was awesome. Norton still plays around town, Hart plays, but not drums. So I guess

a: maybe?

yeah i guess it's mainly hart that i was wondering about... i mean, what he was playing is pretty involved (and i'd imagine physically demanding). not playing all that much drums over the years, i feel like it'd be a challenge to get back to it.

His voice still sounds great, I saw him play drums with Watt (and Norton) a few yrs ago and I was the first I had seen Grant play drums maybe ever (I think he played drums in a later Nova Mob line-up) and it was fine, but it was like cluster-fuck jam on "Little Johnny Jewel"

ha that sounds good -- i really don't know, maybe he could pull it off!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jezlvf483Tw

Mould and Hart on duelling guitars, Dave Grohl on drums

XXpost-if they can some how clear all the other reuniting hurdles, why not?

if husker du can reunite, anything is possible

Archives Vol 2 could come out!

if husker du throbbing gristle can reunite, anything is possible

they should title their reunion album hell freezes over and release a 7" cover of GET OVER IT

haha
still think this is going to be like galaxie 500, who have been good about reissues/DVDs/Merch/books/etc without ever actually reuniting

You forget how long those albums were out of print til the Ryko box, for no good reason.

Archives Vol 2 could come out!

Now you're talking crazy.

Anyway, Husker Du is, along with the Smiths, one of the few (only?) bands whose members are all alive that will never reunite. Mould and Hart played that Soul Asylum benefit years ago (separately), and apparently the bad blood ran deep.

Anyone seen the Grant Hart doc?

Everybody forgets minor threat, that's how insane it would be if they reunited

and the Jam. Can't see them ever getting back together.

i know they weren't bro-ing down at that soul asylum benefit, but mould/hart did actually play a few songs together, so the blood can't have been *that* bad.

I think Talking Heads are even less likely to reunite than Norton/Hart. Those 2 may have some bad blood, but they respect each other-they both feel than Norton never pulled his weight in Husker Du

Mould/Hart do have a mutual respect for one another....and a mutual dislike of Norton, who never pulled his weight in Husker

mould/hart did actually play a few songs together,

Hart played two songs with Mould.

Before Grant Hart joined Bob Mould for two songs at the Quest benefit for Soul Asylum's Karl Mueller last Thursday, the two former singers in Hüsker Dü hadn't shared a stage for 16 years. So what did they play? "Never Talking to You Again" and "Hardly Getting Over It."

If those song choices didn't make things plain enough, there was their body language: Mould looked uncomfortable or unhappy throughout (see below). Hart looked boyish and oblivious. "If me and Bob can get together, that means we can all get together and put Bush out of office, right?" he quipped.

http://www.citypages.com/blogs/only-karl-could-inspire-a-h-sker-d-reunion-6656069

Ha mould's take on that reunion in his memoir suggests why it'd be another decade before they could agree on a tshirt to sell

imagine trying to recreate this insanity

(sans drugs)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLI1OOku6Nw

If those song choices didn't make things plain enough, there was their body language: Mould looked uncomfortable or unhappy throughout
haha, well, no one was holding a gun to their heads making them get onstage together, right? or was pirner offstage with a sniper's rifle? also, does mould *ever* look happy go lucky onstage?

http://blog.thecurrent.org/2013/07/grant-hart-on-the-replacements-reunion-and-why-husker-du-wont-get-back-together/

David Campbell: The Local Show fans will kill me if I don’t ask you this. With the recent reunion of Tommy Stinson and Paul Westerberg and the announcement of the first Replacements gigs in 20 years, I was curious if you’ve thought at all about getting the old band back together?

Grant Hart: Well, I really don’t know. I’ve never had the same motives as Tommy and Paul. And I don’t know what they’re gonna prove.

Campbell: They might just have a little fun.

Hart: It must be more interesting than walking Axl’s dog. I mean, hey, if they want to do it, that’s fine. I think Bob and I have had plenty of opportunities to exploit our camaraderie. You know, the last 10 years we’ve been sorting a lot of things out, as far as, ‘You didn’t really say this, did you?’ And it’s like, ‘No, I didn’t really say that! Did you really say that?’ ‘No, that was so and so.’ There comes a time where you have to put your anger away, but that doesn’t come with a guarantee that you’re going to have the same midlife crisis as your audiences are. I might be having my midlife crisis, but I might be having it with a bunch of under-30 musicians that—I pride myself, they’re having a hard time keeping up with me. But the idea of a reunion? I don’t think anybody in Hüsker needs it. It’s not going to enhance our reputation. And I think it says a lot to be the band that doesn’t take the candy from the dish. You’re seeing people that never had a union having a reunion. All these one-and-a-half album bands that—you know, everybody looks themselves in the mirror and wishes like Faust that they could relive their best days, but hell, make new great times.

If those song choices didn't make things plain enough, there was their body language: Mould looked uncomfortable or unhappy throughout
haha, well, no one was holding a gun to their heads making them get onstage together, right? or was pirner offstage with a sniper's rifle? also, does mould *ever* look happy go lucky onstage?

― tylerw, Thursday, October 15, 2015 3:55 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Dying man's request

But yeah Mould never looked he was enjoying himself, until recently, onstage.

serious q: do you think these guys could actually work up the appropriate head of steam to play husker du songs again?

The electric frustration fueling the songs I'd want to hear is probably lost.

Also Grant Hart making lots of sense too. I don't want to relive those frustrations very much myself either! Here's to new music.

yeah it sounds like he has a healthy attitude about it... and hopefully they can make a little $$$ off of merch/reissues

did anyone else notice that the t-shirt model looks like a young grant

Whoa, big discussion upthread after my offhand comment about the sound of Husker Du's records. I'm only speaking about CD - never heard any of them on vinyl. And actually, Zen Arcade and New Day Rising sound a lot better than the self-produced later material and are unlikely to be improved any by remastering. But put songs from any of the last three on shuffle with other albums on your digital device, even other 80s indie, and the Dü sounds jarringly thin. It's not enough by itself to seriously hamper enjoyment of the songs, but a remix/remaster sure would be nice. And while there are limits on what anybody can do with something that wasn't recorded right to begin with, I'm sure some genius could beef up the rhythm section a little.

I remember a discussion with a friend years ago about the thinness of the Du rhythm section, and she said, "But if they beefed it up it would sound like Sugar," who she hated. And I love Sugar, but she's right, it would change the sound and the band immeasurably. Husker Du is a band that, like Ken Stringfellow put it in the Posies song Grant Hart, are all about "paper drums and shredded paper voice". But yeah, the CDs could be louder.

I think Dinosaur Jr's You're Living All Over Me was the most heinous SST CD - the second's gap between Kracked and Sludgefeast totally pole-axed the momentum. The Merge reissues sounded much better.

POLL: Worst sounding SST CD.

Do it

Dinosaur Jr. is another great example of an (originally) SST band that reissued the original albums and improved the sound, reunited the original lineup and made some more excellent albums, and are probably better live than the first time around.

Also Grant Hart making lots of sense too. I don't want to relive those frustrations very much myself either! Here's to new music.

No way. We all have no shortage of new music, but as good as Hart's and Mould's recent albums are, I would happily give them up in favor of getting to see Husker Du live. My first week of college in '87 (I was living in the same dorm that Mould once was when he was at the same school ten years previously), I skipped a chance to see them at First Avenue because a group of new acquaintances were going to see local marginally crappy reggae band Ipso Facto at an outdoor show. Nice weather, cute girls, free, I figured I would have tons of other opportunities to see HD. Ha!

It would be interesting to hear new HD music too of course...

But yeah Mould never looked he was enjoying himself, until recently, onstage.

― chr1sb3singer, Thursday, October 15, 2015 4:07 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I saw Mould solo last week, and there were moments when he looked borderline giddy onstage. Clearly genuinely appreciative of the reception to his new material.

local marginally crappy reggae band Ipso Facto at an outdoor show
goodhearted lol @ you carting around your regret in such detail all this time!

as an audience member, i'd probably enjoy a reunion well enough if someone placed it directly in front of me. Dino Jr is a good example. I did enjoy seeing their reunion show (but I went bc I won free tickets)

i just remembered bob mould's description of meeting grant hart and their early friendship. it sounded really fun and quite sweet honestly but they def have always seemed like 2 very different people.

Clearly genuinely appreciative of the reception to his new material.

Funny what a couple of strong albums of good songs will do for you.

not like sales though

in the memoir Mould said he made his first serious money with Sugar. Wonder if that's still true on the catalog side.

I suspect much/most of his income right now is Daily Show theme royalties.

when i read it i felt like he talked a lot about money in the book, he has a real accountant streak

I harbor no wish to see any of my favorite bands from the past reunite. I love Husker Du, but there's no way that a trio of 50-year-olds is going to pull of the same punches as those punks who did Land Speed Record. Let 'em play the stuff they're doing now, the songs they probably enjoy performing more.

I heard there's a party down at Lake Cove

It would be so much easier if I drove

I suspect much/most of his income right now is Daily Show theme royalties.

― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Friday, October 16, 2015 4:32 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Whoa! I've always thought that was Peace Love and Understanding.

Can't lie, bought a shirt. You know, for encouragement.

Ha, no, it's called "Dog on Fire" (a Simpsons reference). Until around 2002 or so, it was Mould's recording; since then, they've used a version by They Might Be Giants (but Bob still gets publishing $$$).

xp

Well, Elvis has a case if he wants it.

Or Nick Lowe, you mean.