Bob Mould
The Last Dog And Pony Show
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Bob Mould
The Last Dog And Pony Show
Rykodisc, 1998
RiYL: Husker Du/Sugar, The Replacements, Pete Townshend |
After Sugar called it quits, he made a very angry all-solo record (egregiously, the drum spot filled on past records by Grant Hart, Anton Fier, and Malcolm Travis -- three legends -- is taken by a poorly programmed machine) and seemed to be saying he'd never work with anyone again. The Last Dog And Pony Show (thankfully) employs a human drummer, but otherwise it's all Mould. He's also now saying he'll never tour with a rock band again. What?
This is terrible news for all of you who haven't seen Bob Mould live yet (me, I'm OK, I saw Sugar in 1994), because as irritable, contrarian, and bitter as the big guy is, he's still one of indie music's best performers. The other thing is, Mould has a very specific gift, and that gift is to play huge, scrambled rock guitar. When he slows it down and goes for "nuances," (see Workbook) he just sounds dull. The ways he's dealt with this shortcoming in the past have depended on sidemen -- in Husker Du, Grant Hart took charge of the pop hooks, in Sugar, Malcolm Travis just kicked every song (pop hits like "Helpless" and "If I Can't Change Your Mind" included) into high gear.
The Last Dog And Pony Show isn't as disposable as the all-solo "hubcap record," but it pales in comparison to Sugar's File Under: Easy Listening and Husker Du's Zen Arcade. Mould just isn't capable, apparently, of disciplining himself without a good rhythm section to kick his ass and tell him what ideas just don't work. For every driving "New #1" and "First Drag Of The Day" there's listless filler like "Vaporub" and "Along The Way." Even the loud songs (which Dog And Pony seems self-consciously overloaded with) lack the drive and streamlinedness of Mould's A material.
There's also none of the absurdly perfect riffs Mould has littered past records with -- no "Your Favorite Thing" or "Feeling Better" to relieve you from the mass-chord crunch of most of the songs. Then there's the absolutely worthless sampler experiment "Megamanic," which I will talk about as little as possible. Give Bob credit for trying something new. Ask Bob not to try it again.
Dog And Pony is recommended to hardcore Bob Mould fans who simply can't get enough of that multitracked voice and those reverbed 12-strings. For everybody else, File Under: Easy Listening is available real cheap in a lot of places. Go track it down. I'm not quite ready to give up on Bob Mould yet -- I'll probably buy his upcoming "non-rock" record. But judging by The Last Dog And Pony Show, Mould has plenty left to work on in his traditional genre.
MARK T.R. DONOHUE | Mark T.R. Donohue is a prolific freelance writer whose areas of expertise include Rockies baseball, video games, genre television, English soccer, and pub rock. He lives in Colorado, where he cultivates the largest and creepiest private collection of Alyson Hannigan memorabilia in the Mountain West.