Bob Mould - The Fleece, Bristol 17/11/14

So whether inspiration is derived via Hüsker Dü’s blistering hardcore-cum-proto-grunge melodic surges, the honeyed power-pop of the aptly named Sugar or his solo work, the 54 year old Mould has been a vastly influential figure over the last 30 years of alternative rock. Alongside iconic bands such as Black Flag, Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr, Hüsker Dü – a group once described by US pop cultural critic Chuck Klosterman as “symbolizing the last bastion of counter-culture within the bloated corporate commercialism of Reagan-era autocracy” - fused melody, aggression and experimentation, laying the foundations of a musical movement as well as a lifestyle ethos. Oh, and he wrote the theme song for The Daily Show as well.

On record and in concert, early Hüsker Dü were loud, high-velocity and boozy: Land Speed Record manages to cram 17 songs into just 26 minutes. Alongside bassist Jason Narducci and drummer Jon Wurster in a packed compact venue tonight (Bob remarks upon the preponderance of cover acts and tribute bands on the Fleece’s forthcoming attractions list) there’s a real sense of past glories being recaptured, all at truly deafening volume. A career-spanning performance contains plenty of highlights, but a full-pelt “I Apologize” from 1985’s New Day Rising is worthy of special mention.

Released just a year after Nirvana’s all-conquering Nevermind, an album that Mould was actually offered the chance to produce, Mould unveiled Copper Blue under the guise of Sugar in 1992. A record accurately described as “nearly perfect” by TIME magazine, it provided Mould with an enthusiastic new post-grunge audience via its hook-laden, unremitting chug-a-lug greatness. Songs from this album sound great here: the jangly power-pop proficiency of “Hoover Dam” provokes a flailing of moshpit limbs and the chiming brilliance of “If I Can't Change Your Mind” receives the evening’s biggest cheer.

As a solo artist, Mould has been quietly prolific. Beauty & Ruin is his eleventh album released under his own name, a run that started way back in 1989 with ruminative, folksy Workbook. The front cover of Beauty & Ruin presents two images of Mould, both as a sprightly young buck and as he appears today as a bearded, bespectacled middle-aged man, following in the reflective wake of a 2011 memoir, “See a Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody.” It’s a most enjoyable listen too, harking back to the searing hard-edged sounds of yore alongside catchy tracks like “The War” and “I Don't Know You Anymore”, whose soaring vocal harmonies and irresistibly hook-laden make-up prove just as earworm-ish as anything from Copper Blue and are excellent additions to a fantastic set... despite the lingering threat of tinnitus.