A messy, ugly cover, I grant you. But sometimes a messy, ugly album. Also a bit valedictory without anyone knowing it. Keep in mind within a year's time after this came out that Dookie was released, became a hit, and in its own very specifically mainstream/conservative way pretty decisively established what 'punk' as three-person American band would look/sound like since then. American Idiot is an example of a band chasing down its own impact, in a way, but it's one of many, importing the parameters of the Buzzcocks/Ramones/etc to all and sundry.
Then there was this.
Keep in mind I'm actually not a Bob Mould fanatic. I respect rather than love. I didn't kowtow to Husker Du at the time (one of my cousins was a huge fan, though), the first solo career was...well, there, Sugar mostly was a good idea (har har), and everything since, well, anyway, moving on. He's had some good moments, though, the peaks on Zen Arcade are pretty grand in spite of the not-production (the guitar sound just isn't *thick* enough, y'know? it should be but it isn't), I'll spot him moments here and there as it goes.
But this, this drowning-in-its-own-blood exorcism of some kind of horrifying demon, this is something else. It's Mould and his coworkers of the time Barbe and Travis tackling the Jesus Christ pose trope and turning it into something exultantly horrifying. Around the time of its release Mould was sometimes seen to be wearing a t-shirt featuring an iconic image of Jesus with the slogan "Liar, Lunatic, Lord?" when performing. Something gave, something snapped, and in the space of half an hour he built up to it, let it burst out and then stepped away. He also inadvertantly called an end to the style he had helped codify -- well, maybe not an end, true. But the parameters were about to change, Husker Du to Nirvana was clear but Husker Du to Green Day not so much.
Not that the opening "Come Around" would necessarily give that away, it's a lovely cascade first of acoustic then of electric guitars, the latter in particular showing that the much-remarked-on debt of Kevin Shields to what Husker Du had done earlier on was now turned into its own feedback loop, if you will. Similarly this is some of the least direct singing of Mould's career, the moodily sung title line swathed in echo, backing vocals providing that equivalent of the candy-coated glaze but here more a gently bitter pill. It's an open-ended call to someone/something/somewhere, there's not much to it in terms of 'meaning' if you're looking for it in the lyrics but my god is the tone all about regretful yearning and aspiration, a late-summer-glaze of regret and soothing of an ache, it's a secret lost shoegaze classic sure but it's *not* shoegaze as such and that's the point, it's someone playing around with the form and doing very well. Maybe the best equivalent that year was something like the Smashing Pumpkins' "Mayonaise," but I would say that, and if Bob was always more your hero than Billy, then enjoy the way the soloing stretches out more and more into that final acoustic return and it's all lovely and then...
BLAM! "Tilted" hits you like a cement block against skull, Barbe and Travis rampaging up and up and up as Mould builds alongside, Husker should have sounded this powerful, an echoed howl and JESUS H. CHRIST! What an opening verse, this is powerful stuff, it's still maintaining that sense of glaze and distance, Mould singing powerfully through an overwhelming mix that keeps him down, but makes his turn all the more forceful for that, like he knows that there's no way he can be fully heard per se but DAMMIT he will try, and when he stops after the second chorus to let his guitar soloing talk for a while...jeepers, that's good stuff, and listen for the almost playful way he lets it skip into the third verse. When you can hear him say "Tell me what you're thinking!" then you want to say what, how appropriate a song about (mis)communication comes across in fits and starts and one final sprawl of sound, plus a garbled evangelist transmission from somewhere, setting up the religious imagery of the whole thing all the more.
And so into the majesty of "Judas Cradle," the center of the triptych, Mould's agonized screams and echoed yells heralding the stately progression of something wracked, something wrong. Again, the echo is everywhere, he's either calling from a buried depth or an unknown height, and whatever he's letting out, he's doing so with anger and anguish. A song about betrayal and daring one to come along as the self-laceration becomes all the more loaded, a masochism conflated with something messianic. The rhythm section leads this one, in a way, keeping the slow, queasy head-nod death-march feeling on the verses, changing up a bit only for a chorus that descends just a bit, as Mould's guitar seems to shade all the spaces rather than lead with a melody. When the "Judas"/"Jesus" vocal back and forth comes in as a calm counterpoint towards the end of the song, it's not very soothing at all, it's a kiss in the garden with poison lips and the approaching centurions are all in your head and ready to take over, the feedback falling apart a bit at the end to let some air in before one can suffocate on it all.
So logically "JC Auto" is hop-skip-funtime. Yeah, right. ANYTHING but. Vicious, vicious, VICIOUS stuff, and there's no hitting with flowers here, hands are nailed, hearts are impaled, everyone's screwed forever. Perhaps it's telling that the drums at the start remind me a bit of A R Kane's underrated vicious snarl "Supervixens," but when the full brawling crunch of the verses kick in the song finds its own balance and seems, well, okay enough to start with, calm a bit, the hazy shift from verse to chorus/sub-verse almost soothing, Mould's singing perhaps the most direct of the entire six songs up to now, but the trick is this is about building tension, sounding just a little more keyed-up on each verse. The more 'attractive' it gets with the double-tracked singing, the more that the band is taking off, engines firing up into the shuddering howls of "LOOK LIKE JESUS CHRIST/ACT LIKE JESUS CHRIST/I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW!" Breaking free of gravity musically while unable to escape a deep personal hell right at the same time. Returning to the style of the first verse is a fake respite because when it all finally returns to That Chorus it's relentless -- topped off with the purring mockery/self-loathing of "You'll be sorry when I'm gone/I guess you knew this all along" over the rampage. The louder you hear this the more it sounds like the voice in your head tearing you to shreds, and it seems like it will NEVER end. There's yer catharsis for ya.
So the next song had to be called "Feeling Better" because otherwise there's no way out, and it's, well, kinda goofy actually. That might be intentional, but the fake horn/synth riffs and the cowbell almost make this a party song in a way. It's a respite, a stepping back, the closest to the popflirt of the previous year's Copper Blue, has some moments, the religious imagery is steered away from to looking at things more inter-personally and all that, so a general theme is continued but this is more the band coasting down and away from where they had been, pulling the ripcord out of necessity, sounds nice enough at points sure.
"Walking Away" makes for a lovely ending, though, the perfect frame for "Come Around" and not just simply in the title. Where that was invocation and invitation this is about letting go, though in a nicely contradictory sense ("I'm walking away...back to you"), almost makes me think of George Herbert's "The Collar," a narrator talking about leaving but realizing that it could never truly happen -- but unpacking all the resonances in these words could take a while. Again, not much more sung than the title, it's all about the sound -- synth/string into church organs (but of course!), Bob sounding like he's back somewhere in the depths of a huge cathedral, a calm pace, the sermon is over, sunlight streaming through stained glass windows, some kind of peace might well have been achieved at long last...or maybe this is just a necessary balm. That whole Chant thing was the big rage the following year, Enigma had played around with medieval bits beforehand, there's always Dead Can Dance and its choruses, but this in a way was perhaps the most hauntingly redemptive composition of its particular kind, a not-teenage-anymore-symphony-to-not-necessarily-god filtered via Shields glide glaze drone, to a sudden end.
Marcello once called this the best thing Creation ever released. Every time I listen to it I come pretty close to agreeing.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 24 February 2005 23:55 (twenty years ago)
― darin (darin), Friday, 25 February 2005 00:12 (twenty years ago)
― wombatX (wombatX), Friday, 25 February 2005 00:31 (twenty years ago)
― Si Carter (Si Carter), Friday, 25 February 2005 00:34 (twenty years ago)
I love "Copper Blue" as much as Husker Du.
― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Friday, 25 February 2005 00:34 (twenty years ago)
― JoB (JoB), Friday, 25 February 2005 00:40 (twenty years ago)
Genius, genius ,genius.
Seems a happy bunny these days too? Pleased he's found his place but the selfish part in me fears that the music might suffer.
I was a massive Du fan who mixed with people who hated Copper Blue and Beaster. i didn't get the haters.
― Jessie the Drunk Dutch Mountain Dog (Jessie the Drunk Dutch Mountai), Friday, 25 February 2005 01:42 (twenty years ago)
― microprose, Friday, 25 February 2005 01:48 (twenty years ago)
I thought 'Modulate' was Ok though. Sowing the seed.
― Jessie the Drunk Dutch Mountain Dog (Jessie the Drunk Dutch Mountai), Friday, 25 February 2005 01:53 (twenty years ago)
― Mark (MarkR), Friday, 25 February 2005 03:07 (twenty years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 25 February 2005 03:10 (twenty years ago)
*Might* suffer? He's been terrible for years! (And I like the first post-Sugar solo LP.)
But Beaster is totally classic, maybe his best work ever. Ned, your description of "Tilted" is so OTM, I felt like I was listening to the song while reading it. Well done.
― michaeln (kid loki), Friday, 25 February 2005 03:45 (twenty years ago)
― mookieproof (mookieproof), Friday, 25 February 2005 03:54 (twenty years ago)
This summarises exactly what I love about the album(and also Zen Arcade and New Day Rising.)
Modulate was OK. His Loudbomb record was pretty good I thought. Any word on Body of Song yet? 'Twas supposed to be out yonks ago.
― wombatX (wombatX), Friday, 25 February 2005 04:13 (twenty years ago)
― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 25 February 2005 04:15 (twenty years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 25 February 2005 05:53 (twenty years ago)
I'm going to put this album on RIGHT NOW. In 5, 4, 3, 2...
(I hate to have to pull this card, but if you didn't grow up in Minnesota you'll never fully get this album. So sorry. Back of the bus, please.)
― Lukas (lukas), Friday, 25 February 2005 06:06 (twenty years ago)
― Vek (vek), Friday, 25 February 2005 06:20 (twenty years ago)
why, is there some lyric about 'parking ramps'?
― mookieproof (mookieproof), Friday, 25 February 2005 06:26 (twenty years ago)
― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Friday, 25 February 2005 13:13 (twenty years ago)
― Rocco, Friday, 25 February 2005 13:56 (twenty years ago)
― Dr. C (Dr. C), Friday, 25 February 2005 14:40 (twenty years ago)
― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Friday, 25 February 2005 15:10 (twenty years ago)
― o. nate (onate), Friday, 25 February 2005 15:16 (twenty years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 25 February 2005 15:17 (twenty years ago)
― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Friday, 25 February 2005 15:21 (twenty years ago)
― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Friday, 25 February 2005 15:36 (twenty years ago)
bob's playing in SF this weekend as part of noise pop, but everyone's got this ominous could-be-horrible feeling about it. he's got fans and mere admirers alike pretty on-edge these days. judging by beaster, i suspect he's comfortable with that.
― cobra commander (cobra commander), Friday, 25 February 2005 18:28 (twenty years ago)
Is "Beaster" generally classified as an EP or an LP?
― MV, Friday, 25 February 2005 18:35 (twenty years ago)
― kyle (akmonday), Friday, 25 February 2005 18:55 (twenty years ago)
― NickB (NickB), Friday, 25 February 2005 23:13 (twenty years ago)
― teekay, Friday, 25 February 2005 23:14 (twenty years ago)
I also saw Bob Mould in Bloomington on Black Sheets of Rain with Tony Maimone, Anton Fier and some unknown second guitarist and it was also very intense. That album is a bit underappreciated and probably the most angry music he made since New Day Rising. It was also a good show.
Beaster is the most consise and consistent record that Mould made after Husker Du, but there are some good moments on both his first two solo records and all of the Sugar albums. Bob really took a step forward in his guitar playing after Husker Du, pretty impressive for a rock and roll guy that many records into a career. The self-titled album that followed after this run was dull and hampered by the one man band set-up. I stopped following his music after that one.
― Earl Nash (earlnash), Friday, 25 February 2005 23:42 (twenty years ago)
copper blue is not so good, though. i was kind of surprised to find how poor it was.
― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Saturday, 26 February 2005 00:43 (twenty years ago)
Bob was a much more polished songwriter than Grant; Grant liked the pop hooks, but Bob went for the layers and the subtlety, something not seen much in those days. Bob is an amazing performer, and some of the material I've heard from Body of Song is as raw and exposed as anything from the Du or the Beaster EP.
― Courtney, Sunday, 27 February 2005 02:56 (twenty years ago)
Besides is really nice in spots too - "Needle Hits E" would have been one of the better songs on Copper Blue. "And You Tell Me," or at least my memory of it, seems like it might be a bit like how Beaster is described here. My 16 year-old brain could not comprehend how loud and freaking awesome "And You Tell Me" was.
― charlie va (charlie va), Sunday, 27 February 2005 08:41 (twenty years ago)
― charlie va (charlie va), Sunday, 27 February 2005 09:01 (twenty years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:10 (twenty years ago)
― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Saturday, 26 March 2005 03:46 (twenty years ago)
i love "Tilted". i like most of hte other tracks, but not until the chorus on half of 'em.
i've never seen bob(or grant, for that matter) perform live with a band(got into them way too late). both of them positively NEED one.
― kingfish van pickles (Kingfish), Saturday, 26 March 2005 03:52 (twenty years ago)
Such a powerful slab of music. The comment upthread about it being recorded with "Copper Blue", but slipping out later is correct. They actually released it right around the Easter holiday.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the "hidden" message in "JC Auto"...
"Somewhere in this song a little clue to something..."
― Edward Bax (EdBax), Wednesday, 31 August 2005 15:21 (twenty years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 31 August 2005 15:46 (twenty years ago)
― mark jenkins, Tuesday, 8 November 2005 15:48 (twenty years ago)
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 04:44 (nineteen years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 05:19 (nineteen years ago)
― timmy tannin (pompous), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 06:16 (nineteen years ago)
― amateurist0, Tuesday, 21 March 2006 06:28 (nineteen years ago)
― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 07:30 (nineteen years ago)
"Feeling Better" - oh!
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 1 October 2007 01:09 (eighteen years ago)
Do tell.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 1 October 2007 02:34 (eighteen years ago)
A new working week begins...nothing scours the soul quite like "JC Auto" and "Feeling Better" back to back. I marvel at how out of time the latter sounds; no post-hardcore band was using synth horns and McCartney bass runs and admonitory lyrics like Sugar.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 1 October 2007 02:37 (eighteen years ago)
At least none that we know of but yeah, it did seem all very out of place.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 1 October 2007 02:39 (eighteen years ago)
The purest expression of one of Bob's visions. "JC Auto" is excoriating but the entire build-explode-comedown of the EP is flawless.
I saw Sugar live and have the live bonus disc that came with _Besides_ but their desire to play a million miles per hour shaved off the wonderful studio intricacies. Fun but not as interesting.
I, too, bailed after _Last Dog And Pony Show_. I'm curious, though.
― Mr. Odd, Monday, 1 October 2007 03:51 (eighteen years ago)
Kick-ass album
― Bill Magill, Monday, 1 October 2007 14:19 (eighteen years ago)
The live version of "Hoover Dam" on one of the Copper Blue CD singles ("Helpless"?) is total sludge. Select, which loved Sugar in '93, rated the worst live bands in the world; I think Sugar was third.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 1 October 2007 14:23 (eighteen years ago)
if you didn't grow up in Minnesota
No, of course I don't really believe this. What I really meant was that everyone else's understanding of this album is inferior to my own. If you tap my skeleton hard enough, you'll hear a faint echo of the closing chord from "Come Around".
― lukas, Monday, 1 October 2007 17:55 (eighteen years ago)
Been wondering where you got to, Lukas! How's been?
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 1 October 2007 17:59 (eighteen years ago)
Been well thanks! Getting ready to put all my stuff in storage and spend 2008 tramping around overseas, woo. Yourself?
― lukas, Monday, 1 October 2007 18:09 (eighteen years ago)
Ha! Nothing so adventurous but good nonetheless. Come out for a FAP or two sometime.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 1 October 2007 18:12 (eighteen years ago)
guess I'd have to check ile to be aware of those? anyway yeah, would be great.
ok the intermission is over, please return to discussion of Bob Mould shredding your face.
― lukas, Monday, 1 October 2007 18:54 (eighteen years ago)
The EP version of "JC Auto" is great, but the live version on Besides is better, I think. If I had to keep just one Sugar record, I think it would be Besides.
They were terrible live, though. I saw them on the FUEL tour, with Magnapop opening, and it was just sad to see. It could have been the mix, because the songs sounded like one big blurrrrrrrrr. It was very boring and disappointing. The crowd (in Austin) loved it, though (I think Bob was already living there at that point).
― Euler, Monday, 1 October 2007 20:16 (eighteen years ago)
I can't believe in anything I don't believe in anything. Do you believe in anything? Do you believe me now?
― Edward Bax, Saturday, 6 October 2007 20:42 (eighteen years ago)
Re: the comment upthread about Mould being a big Richard Thompson fan, I remember an interview with him in the Austin Chronicle back when I lived there and he was talking about Thompson. Said Thompson was one of those guitar players who he'd be standing in the audience watching and he'd look down at his hands and ask them why they couldn't do that!
― ellaguru, Saturday, 6 October 2007 21:38 (eighteen years ago)
I always rolled my eyes at Feeling Better back in the day, because synth horns were the last thing I needed after JC Auto. But I've been playing it nonstop since this thread got revived. I especially like how all the various riffs get blended up at the end.
― Lie Bot, Tuesday, 30 October 2007 17:29 (eighteen years ago)
Wheee for finding Beaster for $1.99!! The last track has this really marvelous shoegazy/MBV thing going on. Am loving it.
― twisted sister hazel dickens (Stevie D(eux)), Tuesday, 23 November 2010 20:10 (fifteen years ago)
I would cite this one to all the boring Husker fascists, who thought that Sugar were sell out Shite.
To me , this one and the first Sugar, were how the Huskers should have been produced. Fkin A plus+++
― Fer Jessie the Drunk Dutch Mountain Ark (Mobbed Up Ping Pong Psychos), Tuesday, 23 November 2010 20:26 (fifteen years ago)
"JC Auto" shreds like little else. "I'm your Jesus Christ, I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW!!!!!!!!"
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Tuesday, 23 November 2010 23:23 (fifteen years ago)
To me , this one and the first Sugar, were how the Huskers should have been produced.
I said so at the time!
― look at it, pwn3d, made u look at my peen/vadge (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 23 November 2010 23:32 (fifteen years ago)
"If thou wouldst believe ... thou would see the glory of God. I'm going to pray a prayer that's going to bless your heart, Amen that's going to minister to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ."
― mookieproof, Saturday, 21 January 2012 00:24 (fourteen years ago)
Ironically, they were produced by Lou Giordano, who was Husker Du's longtime live soundman.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 21 January 2012 01:12 (fourteen years ago)
Happy Beaster.
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 31 March 2013 15:26 (twelve years ago)
<3 <3 <3
― Room 227 (Stevie D(eux)), Sunday, 31 March 2013 16:22 (twelve years ago)
What's the backstory for this, was it recorded during the "Copper Blue" sessions? Pity there were no outtakes for the recent reissue.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Sunday, 31 March 2013 16:42 (twelve years ago)
Recorded at the same time.
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 31 March 2013 17:41 (twelve years ago)
Thirty years old as of the previous week.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 14 April 2023 17:23 (two years ago)
Good album, I'm told.
― retrofuturist cop slayer! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 14 April 2023 17:28 (two years ago)
Heard rumors.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 14 April 2023 19:27 (two years ago)
I can’t stop listening to this.
― butt dumb tight my boners got boners (the table is the table), Wednesday, 5 February 2025 17:43 (one year ago)
― Dialysis Den (Boring, Maryland), Wednesday, 5 February 2025 17:45 (one year ago)
"Walking Away" is seeing the face of God.
― the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 5 February 2025 17:47 (one year ago)
Song is beautiful, but it always reminded me of the Chills.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 5 February 2025 20:22 (one year ago)
You add the "but" as if that's somehow a bad thing.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Wednesday, 5 February 2025 20:37 (one year ago)
I always was amused by how the last line of "Feeling Better" is "I guess it's time to walk away", songs ends within seconds, and then of course the next and final song is "Walking Away". I love stuff like that.
― gjoon1, Wednesday, 5 February 2025 23:51 (one year ago)
The opener's slow churn gets to me too.
― the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 6 February 2025 00:51 (one year ago)
"Come Around" is gorgeous but does not prepare you for what's coming
― Dialysis Den (Boring, Maryland), Thursday, 6 February 2025 00:53 (one year ago)
That's why it works. Ideal companion to "Walking Away."
And my college station played the latter as a single!
― the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 6 February 2025 01:00 (one year ago)
i've never heard this album. maybe i should try it. i know its the one people really like. i only remember seeing dreary mould solo videos on mtv. i kinda stopped listening to him after 1985.
― scott seward, Thursday, 6 February 2025 01:12 (one year ago)
It's NOT dreary. At all.
― the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 6 February 2025 01:21 (one year ago)
JC Auto is sick but doesn't prepare you for the synth horns on Feeling Better
― rainbow calx (lukas), Thursday, 6 February 2025 01:39 (one year ago)
― Dialysis Den (Boring, Maryland), Thursday, 6 February 2025 02:08 (one year ago)
I only do these things to freak you outI never wanted you to doubt me!
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 6 February 2025 03:21 (one year ago)
JC Auto is simply one of the best hard rock songs I know.
This posted in the sugar thread was a fun revelation to something that's mildly intrigued me for thirty years:
The “little clue to something” is in the very next line: “Parts of it seem over now, you expect a real solution”.Take the first letter of each word and you get:P O I S O N Y E A R S.The “little clue” is thus a link back to Bob’s prior song “Poison Years”.
The “little clue” is thus a link back to Bob’s prior song “Poison Years”.
Listening to that song (for the first time), I find it has the line "In an act like Jesus Christ", and the melody of that JC Auto part also borrows from the song.
― birming man (ledge), Thursday, 6 February 2025 08:49 (one year ago)
Bloody hell. Have listened to both those records countless times over many years and never noticed that connection.
― conspiracitorial theories (stevie), Thursday, 6 February 2025 09:33 (one year ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 24 February 2005 bookmarkflaglink
Funny what that label went on to release.
― xyzzzz__, Thursday, 6 February 2025 10:05 (one year ago)
I don’t think he plays much of this live, I might be off but the Sugar songs played live appears to be 90% Copper Blue
Granted the core of Beaster doesn’t lend itself to a solo setting
― Master of Treacle, Thursday, 6 February 2025 11:53 (one year ago)
"Didn’t take you for one of those who think the Huskers sold out when they went to Warner Bros.?"
oh i never thought that. i think i just didn't care for candy apple grey and i moved on. i never bought warehouse. the only post-husker thing i owned after that and really liked was nova mob last days of pompeii album.
but i will try beaster today! i have a snow day.
― scott seward, Thursday, 6 February 2025 13:31 (one year ago)
Rarewaves were knocking out the 27 disc box set for £31 or thereabouts. I have one winging it's way to me at the mo
― Mark G, Thursday, 6 February 2025 19:56 (one year ago)