Out of the Vaults # 24 - SUGAR -File Under Easy Listening (Deluxe Edition)

My wife dives into our CD cabinets (The Vaults) and randomly pulls out one of the thousands of  CDs. The chosen album will then be given to me and I will talk about the CD for a while no matter how good, bad, obscure, or embarrassing the chosen disc is. Where did I buy it, when did I buy it, what was my first reaction to hearing it, do I still listen to it today etc, etc, etc

One of the things I dislike the most in the world is when people say "Thanks Obama". After 11 years it's just not funny anymore, Whenever someone says it, I cringe. It wasn't too funny to begin but when all those years ago the expression first began popping up it would always give me a little laugh, reminding me of something that happened many years before, 

It was 1992, and Husker Du's singer/guitarist Bob Mould had a new band called Sugar. I hated them so much. Hated them with a passion. And this was before I had even heard a single note.

The reason why I hated Sugar so much was because I wanted Bob Mould to make up with drummer Grant Hart, grab bassist Greg Norton, and do a Husker Du reunion. Over the past couple of years, Bob Mould has released two solo albums, Black Sheets of Rain and Workbook. They were okay albums but didn't have the buzz-saw sound of Husker Du, whose back catalog was always in heavy rotation on my stereo.

Bob Nould (Center) with drummer Malcolm Travis (left) and bassist Dave Barbe (right)

Sugar was going to play the 9:30 club in Washington, D.C. and they didn't even have an album out. Their 7" on Bob's  Singles Only Label (S.O.L.) may have been released already but I can't remember. I planned to go to the show but would be doing so “under protest”. I was hoping they would slip in a Husker Du song or two.

The show was so loud. I don't mind loud but this show was so loud if Sugar had released any recordings it would have been impossible to tell what song was being played anyway. Still, I was pretty sure there weren't any Husker Du songs performed that night. When the show was over I managed to grab one of the set lists. There weren't any Husker Du songs listed on it.

Usually after concerts, my ears would clear up within an hour or so. This Sugar show was so loud the next day my ears still had a muffled buzz going on.

"Your Favorite Thing" single

At the time I had a summer job at a warehouse counting maps. The maps consisted of random things from highway trucking routes to electrical systems in buildings all over the United States   A team of two people would have a list of maps they needed to retrieve ("pick") for an order. Once they had them they would bring them over to me and this other guy who would count them out, wrap them in rubber bands, and box them up to be sent out. About half the warehouse was filled with workers from the temp agency. It was a monotonous job but we made the most of it by having rubber band battles, talking about music and telling each other jokes and stories.

Each day at lunch time there would be a ring over the loudspeaker to let everyone know it was time for lunch. Then after half an hour, there was another ring saying it was time to go back to work. The day after the Sugar show my boxing partner had called out of work so I was working by myself and honestly getting more stuff done than if I was chatting away with my absent coworker.

That day my ears were buzzing so loud from the show I missed both of the rings.

Flier from a show just a few days after the one in D.C.

When I saw the other workers coming back from lunch  I realized  I would now have to wait until the end of the day before I could get something to eat. Ten minutes later when one of the picking teams brought over an order of maps, one of them asked where I had been during the lunch break. I told him what had happened and ended the story with "Thanks Bob Mould".

Soon that became the catchphrase of the summer. Whenever something went wrong we would say "Thank you Bob Mould".

A couple months later Sugar released their first album Copper Blue. Although it was a very good album I still wasn't over my desire for a Husker Du reunion. Almost immediately after Copper Blue Sugar released a mini album called Beaster. This was more like it. Buzz saw guitars all over the place. Then in 1994 Sugar released their final album File Under Easy Listening before Bob once again decided it was time for the band to call it a day. F.U.E.L was more of a continuation of Copper Blue. Good music is full of hooks under Bob's guitars.

 But it still wasn't Husker Du. 

Eventually, I traded the discs back to a used CD store. They also released a collection of b-sides called Besides which I am pretty sure I never picked up. 

File Under Easy Listening Deluxe Edition

In 2012 Merge Records released two deluxe Sugar CD collections. The first was a triple disc containing Copper Blue, Beaster, and Live at the Cabaret Metro. The second is a double disc containing File Under Easy Listening with some B-Sides, and The Joke Isn't Always On Us, Sometimes, a live disc that was originally included with the first 25,000 copies of Besides.

On a whim, I picked up both of the reissues and discovered a new fondness for the band. I guess I had finally come to terms with the idea there was never going to be a Husker Du reunion. To this day both deluxe disc sets remain in my regular rotation. It's also great to finally be able to hear a Sugar live show without my ears buzzing for days. 

Thanks, Bob Mould

Here is the video for F.U.E.L.'s "Gee Angel"

Out Of The Vaults #10 - Husker Du - ZEN ARCADE

Each week or so my wife will dive into our CD cabinets (The Vaults) and randomly pull out one of the thousands of CDs. The chosen album will then be given to me and I will talk about the Cd for awhile no matter how good, bad, obscure or embarrassing the chosen disc is. Where did I buy it, when did I buy it, what was my first reaction to hearing it, do I still listen to it today etc.

Out of The Vaults #10 - Husker Du - Zen Arcade

Zen Arcade is the second album out of my "Holy Trinity" of  incredible double albums. The other two are Sonic Youth’s Daydream Nation and the Minutemen’s Double Nickels On the Dime. Daydream Nation was actually the very first “Out of the Vaults” pick at the very beginning of this blog. 

Even through Zen Arcade and Double Nickels came out in 1984 and Daydream Nation in 1988, I bought them all within a few weeks of each other circa1988 or 89. All three are perfect albums, each on a whole different level them  everything else that was being released at the time. In my opinion all three of them are also the best material each band ever released.

Although guitarist Bob Mould and drummer Grant Hart wrote the songs on Zen Arcade, bassist Greg Norton has the honor of being the first member you hear on it. His bass on “Something I Learned Today” gets the ball rolling before the rest of the band kicks in. With song #2 “Broken Homes, Broken Heart” the albums narrative begins. I am not going to get too much into the story because I want you to be able to listen to it yourselves. The acoustic but no less intense “Never Talking To You Again” follows.

“Chartered Trips” picks up where “Broken Homes, Broken Heart left off”. Bob Mould's patented buzzing guitar wailing along as you can hear the urgency and desperation in his voice. “Dreams Reocurring”  is a minute and a half instrumental. Composed of backwards tape loops, piercing and swirling guitars, bass and various other instruments, the song is very reminiscent of The Byrd’s “Eight Miles High”, a song Husker Du would be covering as a single in the near future.

Song #6 “ Indecision Time” continues the intensity with guitar noises attempting to escape from all directions only to be pummeled back down into the ground.

“Hare Krishna” comes on next, bringing more buzzing guitars. Bob’s mumbling lyrics intertwined with drummer Grant Hart’s chants of “Hare Krishna” make the song perfectly convey the feeling of being confused and smothered by religion.

Following are the trio of “Beyond The Threshold”, “Pride” and “Never Forget You”. The middle one is NEVER to be listened to while working out at the gym. If you do, instant heart attack. This song is that intense. You have been warned.

At track 11 we find one of my all time favorite songs. “Biggest Lie” has an awesome heavy build up at the beginning  followed by more of Bob’s trademark guitar sound.  The song also has the best Bob Mould guitar solo ever. His solo on Husker Du’s “Could You Be The One” a couple of years later, a close second.

Track 12 “What’s Going On” has Bob and Grant shouting at each other while guitars wail . I can just picture them in the studio, each one gritting their teeth as they attempt to become louder than the other. The exchange is so intense that neither one seems to notice two minutes into the song a piano has snuck in and grabbed the solo. I always picture bassist Greg sitting there watching Bob and Grant battle it out, seeing this is his chance to shine, runs out of studio, grabs the piano and bring it back without the other guys noticing.

Pretty soon the shouting does dies done but with 30 seconds left, both Bob and Grant attempt to one up each other by starting the shouting again.  Bob emerges the victor, celebrating with a few quick guitar riffs at the very end. Feeling bad about it, he let's Grant take the lead vocals on the next song, "Masochism World".

After the slower "Standing By The Sea" and the very Who-esque "Somewhere", both with Grant on lead vocals, we find the first of two forty second piano interludes "One Step at a Time". Along with the one a few songs down, these interludes are a very good way to separate sections the story. They also allow you to take a breath and prepare for the tragic "Pink Turns To Blue" which follows. Bob takes over the lead for the two songs, separated by the second forty second interlude of "Monday Will Never Be The Same", which follow. In "Newest Industry" and especially "Whatever", Bob's voices becomes so intense and urgent to the point beyond the threshold (couldn't resist) where it sounds as if it is almost about to break.

The droning psychedelic looping sounds of the next song, the three minute "The Tooth Fairy and The Princess" is the sound of the narratives main character waking up leaving them and the listener wondering if it was all just a dream.

Closing out the the monumental album is "Turn on The News", a song which the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame named one of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". Hopefully pretty soon Husker Du, one of the most important bands in alternative music, will finally receive it's own rightful place in the Hall

The album officially ends with a fourteen minute extended "Dreams Reoccurring" called "Reoccurring Dreams". I always thought of it as the music playing while the credits for the rest of the album and story were rolling.

According to the front page of iTunes "Husker Du Classic Just Added" with Zen Arcade among them. Go over there and purchase it or listen to it on Spotify. Just please don't listen to it at the gym. You have been warned.