March 25--Bob Mould has done his best work as part of a power trio: Husker Du in the '80s, Sugar in the '90s, and three recent solo recordings, including "Patch the Sky" (Merge). Mould isn't exactly reinventing himself, but his bittersweet music -- big, loud, noisy melodies and heavy introspection that never quite tip over into self-pity -- projects the renewed confidence of a master at work. In his mid-50s, he's neck-deep in what is shaping up as the third great incarnation of his career.
With "Silver Age" in 2012 he began working with bassist (and Evanston native) Jason Narducy and Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster, and the relationship has flourished ever since. "Patch the Sky" is something of a darker twin to the 2014 "Beauty and Ruin," itself an album filled with grief and reckoning. But the music, in contrast to the often bleak, edge-of-despair lyrics, is cleansing. The simple tools at hand -- guitar, bass and drums -- provide a way out.
Mould's guitar commands the center. The constraints of the trio format in Husker Du compelled Mould to reimagine the guitar as a sound machine or even a small orchestra, capable of playing several different roles at once.
It took the lead, it played rhythm, it created atmosphere. His guitar is like another voice, or sometimes several voices. On "Voices in My Head," it shifts from a distant hum into a crisp solo, then a distorted roar. "Lucifer and God" evokes the six-string avalanche of My Bloody Valentine, and "Hands are Tied" echoes Mould's hardcore beginnings on Husker Du's "Land Speed Record." He toggles between thick and thin tonalities on "Losing Time" and blankets "Black Confetti" in menace.
"Losing Sleep" is a rarity on this album: more sleek and midtempo, not quite as noisy, but still lacquered with anxiety as Narducy's muscular bass leads the way. Wurster brings huge presence to his drums, particularly the kick. The band doesn't defer, and one senses Mould wouldn't want it any other way.
Greg Kot is a Tribune Newspapers critic.
greg@gregkot.com
"Patch the Sky"
Bob Mould
3.5 stars
