Published on Feb 4, 1999
I’m about to draw an analogy that’s sure to anger some people:
The partnership of Husker Du’s Bob Mould and Grant Hart was to punk
rock what John Lennon and Paul McCartney were to pop.
Although both bands started out as leaders in their respected
fields, each band soon found themselves torn as the principal
songwriters each tried to go in their own directions. Like Lennon,
Mould wanted to be the innovator in sound and texture, throwing
caution to the wind in favor of a sound that was pleasing to him.
Like McCartney, Hart had the heart of a pop star, daring to follow
the road marked by melody and well-crafted songs.
Eventually, all of this must come to a head. With The Beatles,
it was the untitled “White Album”. With Husker Du, I hear that
musical tension in
The Living End, a posthumous release chronicling the final
tour of this Minneapolis trio.
Recorded during Husker Du’s brief 1987 tour, this album could
almost be seen as a live compilation (I hesitate to use the term
“best-of”, for that’s usually thrown onto albums from groups who
achieve superstardom) of their all-too-short career together. While
such a set might be a little too much to take for the person who is
just discovering the napalm attack that was Husker Du, for the
diehard fan, this album is sure to please.
In these performances, one hears Mould pouring everything into
his own performances, his voice cracking under the strains of his
vocal shouts, his guitar wailing almost like it’s alive, and Mould
is merely trying to guide it back onto the road. Hart happily
pounds away on his drumkit, and makes the most of each opportunity
he gets to be the lead vocalist. (I found it intriguing to hear a
more punked-out version of “Now That You Know Me,” a song that Hart
eventually put on his first solo album.) All the while, bassist
Greg Norton seems to be the anchor for the band, plunking away
while watching the musical tension unfolding on stage.
As a band, Husker Du was a bit sloppy – but in this case, that
style worked well for them, as having a neatly structured sound
would have defeated the whole purpose. From the opening notes of
“New Day Rising,” that style is showcased in a devil-may-care
manner, almost as if the band knew they were creating something
that was going to last a lifetime.
And there are some incredible performances on
The Living End. While I have never been able to get into
Warehouse: Songs And Stories (the band’s last studio album),
their rendition of “Ice Cold Ice” here is enough to warm up the
Chicago lakeside. Other numbers like “Friend, You’ve Got To Fall”,
“Celebrated Summer” and “In A Free Land” all show just how
underappreciated Husker Du was in their time. And who can’t resist
their closing number, a cover of The Ramones’s “Sheena Is A Punk
Rocker”?
But there are a few miscues on
The Living End as well. I wonder why the band chose to do
“Hardly Getting Over It”, when there were better selections off of
Candy Apple Grey they could have chosen. To me, “What’s
Going On” (from the classic
Zen Arcade) will never top the original – and you need the
plinking piano to make this song sound right. Other numbers like
“Terms Of Psychic Warfare” and “Girl Who Lives On Heaven Hill” are
very much hit-or-miss, and will depend on your own personal likes
and dislikes of Husker Du’s catalog.
For that matter,
The Living End is an album that has to grow on you over
time. I’ve owned this album since it came out five years ago, and
this last time that I listened to it (I think it was the first time
I’d dug this tape out in two years) found me enjoying it the most.
With
The Living End, the key word is patience.
Husker Du has been broken up now for over a decade, but their
influence is still very much felt.
The Living End, even with its few problems, shows us how
much this band is still missed.