BOB MOULD INSPIRED AND INSPIRING AT COACHELLA
New Record - Life And Times - Sums Up 30 Years of Work with Reflection while Never Easing up on the Aural Assault
With bands like the Silversun Pickups and No Age drawing big crowds at this year's Coachella music festival, it was a midday set on Saturday from Husker Du/Sugar veteran frontman Bob Mould that schooled the young audience on the real power of loud guitars and moody lyrics.
The 48 year old Mould played a 45 minute, career-spanning set that kicked off with Sugar's "The Act We Act" and included favorites like Husker Du's "New Day Rising" along with songs from Mould's expansive solo material, including two songs from his latest Life And Times. Backed by a full band that gave the eager crowd the wall-of-guitar sound that Mould popularized way back in the 80s, the Coachella performance was noted as one of the weekend's best by fans and critics alike:
- "Mould's most recent release, Life and Times, is about reflection. His Coachella set was more about asserting some dominance. There's nary a younger act on the bill that doesn't owe some debt to Mould's work in Husker Du and Sugar, ranging from the fuzz-laced assault of the Silversun Pickups to the hearty heartland rock of the Hold Steady." --LA Times
- "Marrying ear-candy melodies to noisy and snarling punk-kissed sonics and creating a muscular, nerve-flayed detonation of classic punk and rock that felt like rhythmic slabs of concrete being shockwaved from the stage and into the crowd. Skipping from the slam-bang kinetics of minute-and-a-half Dü-styled speed-punk to the melodic slow-burn edge of a track like "Life and Times" (from his 2009 album of same name), the Bob Mould Band illustrated the possibilities of melody and songcraft within a serrated guitar thunderstorm, and did so without compromise or sacrifice of vision. And while Sunday performers No Age may be the current gatekeepers of the noise-rock genre, Mould noisily reminded everyone within bloody earshot that he was still in charge." -Paste Magazine
- "He plays straightforward grownup rock, combining new material like "Life and Times" with old band hits like "If I Can't Change Your Mind" and Mould himself not doing anything at all out of the norm while still keeping the crowd thrilled." -Entertainment Weekly
- "No act rocked Saturday's concert better than Mould, who, at 48, proved that there is no age limit for creating exciting new music." --Live Daily