merge records Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Bob Mould “Blue Hearts”

sfilzen — Wed, 13 Jul 2022 17:01:36 +0000

Bob Mould “Blue Hearts” 2020. Merge Records. Limited edition blue/black/white tricolor vinyl. An excellent and rightly angry protest album recorded during the height of the pandemic by the elder alt-rock statesman, Blue Hearts marks Mould’s sixteenth solo effort (that does not include his work with Hüsker Dü and Sugar); it went to #181 on the US album charts. We caught Mould this past weekend at Summerfest where he performed a superb mix of solo tracks (some from Blue Hearts but also older hits like “See a Little Light“), Sugar songs (one of my all-time favorite songs ever “Hoover Dam“) and Hüsker Dü cuts. Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard joined Mould onstage for the Hüsker Dü classic “Makes No Sense At All” which was a happy surprise. DCFC was set to headline the same stage later that evening and according to a tweet from Mould’s bassist Jason Narducy: “Before we walked on stage at at Summerfest, Bob told Ben Gibbard the chords to ‘Makes No Sense At All.’ Ben said he thought he could learn it before we got to the end of the set. He grabbed my red guitar and did it.”

Blue Hearts is aggressively loud (I’m pretty sure I lost a decent amount of my hearing at a Sugar show back in the early 90’s) and dense yet still melodic, like most Mould albums. My top tracks are “Next Generation,” the all-out rager “American Crisis,” “Siberian Butterfly,” the very catchy “Baby Needs a Cookie” and the LP closer “The Ocean.”

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Sugar “Copper Blue” and “Beaster”

sfilzen — Sun, 26 Dec 2021 18:52:29 +0000

Sugar “Copper Blue” and “Beaster” 1992/1993, 2012 reissue, Merge Records. Copper Blue is one of my favorite records from the 90’s but until now I’ve only had it on CD (I’m actually not sure it even existed on vinyl in the 90’s). The debut release from Bob Mould’s post-Hüsker Dü band – he did a couple of solo releases prior to Sugar – is a thunderous alt-rock record that NME ranked as their album of the year. It went to #10 in the UK, #10 on the US “Heatseekers” chart and to #46 on the US Indie Albums chart. I love it from start to finish, one of those rare records that is highlight after highlight in dense wall-of-sound power pop melody. Sugar released four singles from Copper Blue: “Changes” (in the UK), “A Good Idea” (#65 UK), “Helpless” (#5 US Modern Rock Tracks) and “If I Can’t Change Your Mind” (#30 UK). I also adore “The Slim” and “Fortune Teller.” But hands-down the best of the best is “Hoover Dam.” It is perfect: soaring, melodic, a little jangly, a lot loud and simply gorgeous. We saw Sugar play live when they toured for their next LP File Under: Easy Listening, so probably in late ’94 or early ’95 and while I have zero recollection of what they played, I’m sure a few songs from Copper Blue were in the set list. I do remember standing next to stage speaker with no ear protection and probably losing a good chunk of my hearing from that show (my ears rang for at least 2 days after the show; minimal regrets).

Beaster is a 6-song EP, released in ’93, comprised of tracks recorded during the Copper Blue sessions. Less alt-pop, more noise-pop, Mould describes Beaster as “a lot wilder than Copper Blue…[its] evil twin” with twisted and heavy guitar and religious imagery. It charted at #3 in the UK and #130 in the US (though at #4 on that Heatseekers chart) and Sugar released two singles – “Tilted” and “JC Auto” – both tracks released on a limited 7″ in the UK which went to #48. I don’t think I listened to Beaster much in the 90’s, though I do have it dubbed on an old cassette somewhere around here.

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Spoon “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga”

sfilzen — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 18:23:58 +0000

Spoon “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga” 2007. Merge Records. The sixth LP from indie pop rockers Spoon debuted at #10 on the US album charts and hit #1 on the indie album charts, with broad critical acclaim; hitting numerous best-of list for the year and the decade. Spoon released two singles from Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, “The Underdog” which hit #26 and “Don’t You Evah” that went #33, both on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The funky “Don’t You Evah” is one of my favorites from the album (it’s a cover originally by The Natural History, who toured with Spoon in 2002/03), as well as the lead track “Don’t Make Me a Target,” “Rhthm & Soul” (I didn’t misspell that), “Finer Feelings” and “Black Like Me.” Hidden in the run-out groove is a “skip” of a snare and three-chord piano riff that repeats into perpetuity – or at least until you get up and turn off the record – a fun (possibly irritating) little detail that likely does not exist on any other format.

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