Grant Hart
2541

After many reconsiderations, after many hesitations...I will try to write about this solo debut of Grantzberg Vernon "Grant" Hart.

Some time ago, I had agreed with my friend Lewis Tollani (I don't think I'm exaggerating by claiming that Lewis is one of the top experts nationally on Husker Du) to write a page with four hands about 2541; Grant's death in September 2017 ruined the project.

Today, all of a sudden, I have a damn craving for Grant, my little big hero, my favorite from the explosive trio that in the eighties introduced me to a certain kind of sounds, a certain type of sonority; thanks to the listening of that cornerstone which even today gives me chills just typing its title. I'm referring to the monument, not only auditory as far as I'm concerned, of Zen Arcade.

...Here two minutes of dutiful silence and admiration have passed, of heartfelt homage to this work that I have branded into me for decades...now I can continue.

It all begins in December 1987: after months if not years of fierce internal disputes, of continuous conflicts, of furious arguments, Husker Du, while performing in a small club in Missouri, drop their instruments more or less halfway through the execution of an unconvincing Flexible Flyer. They descend from the stage never to climb it again. Putting an end to a crazy, gigantic, unique musical story. Which in just over five years revolutionized independent music, laying the very solid foundations for the future scene called Indie Rock.

It is a blow especially for Grant; already undermined by chronic substance abuse problems.

Music remains the anchor to cling to; it takes him a few months to get back on track somehow, although the problems will remain...

He signs a contract with the label SST, which had tied its name to no less than three Husker records, and starts anew with 2541.

2541 corresponds to the "Nicollet Avenue" address of the recording studios so dear to the band of Bob, Grant, and Greg.

Our Grant cannot help but look to the past, cannot help but look back.

And the song that gives the title to the EP had already been written in the past, to be placed on one of the last Husker Du records. But the "dictatorial father" Bob placed his imposing veto on it, claiming that the track was too similar to a song written during the same period by Dream Syndicate!!! I'm not writing "bullshit," that's how it really happened.

This most absurd and bold decision by Bob always made me think of one thing: anyone familiar with the Minneapolis band should remember that the last recorded album was Warehouse: Songs and Stories. By contract, Bob and Grant, already in stark crisis and a small step from the final abyss, had to evenly split the number of songs written. Ten by Bob and ten by Grant; instead, it finished 11 to 9 for the former...do you want to see that Grant's tenth was supposed to be 2541? I will let you draw your own conclusions; I've already sided with the loser, with Grant, for years now. Without taking away anything from my visceral love also for Bob.

But if I absolutely had to choose, pick one of the two...no doubt about it. I would choose the drummer - singer...

Grant takes back this song of rupture with the past and records it right away, to have his revenge. A very bitter revenge.

2541 has a somber, bitter, acoustic pace. Grant opts for minimal, raw arrangements; with an execution almost approximate. He plays everything himself, to prove his worth to someone...

The track rises in intensity towards the end, his voice shouts the title, shouts the number in a flat, dramatic way. His despair; anger nurtured, sedimented over the years that can now come out in the open.

The song will be recorded again for the debut long play Intolerance: a much cleaner, less troubled electric version. But there's no comparison for me; I chose the first Grant. A long time ago now.

The EP features two other tracks; which compared to 2541 are insignificant.

I will end it here...Don't Want to Know if You are Lonely...

Ad Maiora.