Grant Hart: 2541 E.P. (+ Every Everything Documentary)

On of MRML's most commented-upon series was the one in which I argued that Hüsker Dü singer/drummer Grant Hart's solo career had been unfairly marginalized in contrast with the justly celebrated work of his former partner, singer/guitarist Bob Mould. Now following a well-recieved 2009 comeback album backed by Godspeed You Black Emperor, a new documentary, Every Everything, currently looking for support at Kickstarter, we may be seeing a redress in the balance of praise.




(Watch full-sized version here)


Surprisingly, considering how he'd referred to Mould's late period Hüsker Dü work as "square", Hart's debut was even more more sensitive singer-songwriter fodder than Mould's! "2541" is however, a moving song of loss with a fittingly mournful melody. The fine lyrical details and the the swelling chorus make for the perfect eulogy for the Hüskers. It's blatantly autobiographical but unsentimental and it contains many a stinging line like, "It's probably not be the last time I'll have to be out by the first".

The rest of the EP "Come, Come" and "Let Go" is less-than-spectacular but as this recording of "2541" is very different then the one on Intolerance, it's a crucial release.





So what do you make of Hart's comeback? Of "2541"? Let us know in the COMMENTS section (where you'll find the 2541 EP link).

 
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Hüsker Dü: Ice Cold Ice

1987's "Ice Cold Ice" was the final single from the psychedelic pop-punk double L.P. Warehouse: Songs and Stories. The song, with it's lethally incessant vocal hook, is yet another of Mould's distorted confections. Sad to say, Mould can toss off a melodic rocker like this just too damn easily for his own good, which can sometimes result in one song bleeding into the next (see the totally unavailable B-side "Gotta Lotta" as a possible example). Of course Hüsker Dü bled its last here and, twenty-two years later, their corpse is unlikely to rise from the dead.



(Here's the official video for Warehouse's first single, "Could You Be the One").








{Thanks to the incredible Hüsker Dü Database for their help with these posts.}

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Hüsker Dü: Could You Be the One?

Hüsker Dü went down fighting. While they broke up under toxic levels of acrimony after 1987's two L.P. set, Warehouse: Songs and Stories, the album is a unified victory (the writing credits are split evenly between Hart and Mould) , with twenty gloriously distorted pop songs left standing like sonic memorials.



"Could You Be The One?" was a fine single but Hart's "She Floated Away" could also have been one, if Mould hadn't got the A-sides of both of the album's singles. This 12" also has a rare Greg Norton composition, the rocking "Everytime", as well as another Hart psych-pop jangler, "Charity, Chastity, Prudence and Hope", making this a most democratic single.







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Hüsker Dü: Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely

Having argued, somewhat fancifully, that Hüsker Dü were the Great American Rock Band, America's Beatles even, let MRML present you with not only their single greatest achievement but also one of their Beatles covers.



"Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely" is the perfect example of what made Hüsker Dü so thrilling. It's all here; fuzz guitar attack, propulsive drumming, psychedelic break-it-down parts, melodic bass work, an indelible chorus and bitter lyrics ("Please leave a number and a message at the tone or you can just go on and leave me alone" goes the final line). And it's a Grant Hart song. Yup, Hart, the singer/drummer whom bassist Greg Norton called the McCartney to guitarist/singer Mould's Lennon. While this analogy quickly breaks down in their solo careers, the greatness of Hüsker Dü, like the Beatles, was their collective strength. As a songwriters Mould and Hart were equals in the band and the latter's solo dominance, in contrast to the former's marginality, does not prevent this song from being their finest moment.



The B-sides here include the song that inspired the Manson murders and an eight minute song that repeats the lines, "All work and no play make Jack a dull boy" that sent Jack Nicholson into that murderous rage. Both songs are harsh, abrasive and endurance-defying. Just as the boys intended I'm sure.









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