Hüsker Dü
Sorry Somehow

For some time I owed the Huskers; I owed Bob, Grant, and Greg a review worthy of the name.

Because the previous one regarding the monumental "Zen Arcade" was in fact rather zot.

It's 1986 and the band, now on a roll and as always hyper-productive, signs with Warner. The move to a major label is a detonating event destined to change the course of Rock, College Rock, and all that Indie Rock that will soon explode first on American soil and then in every corner of the world. A group like Hüsker Dü, so extreme, radical, and free from any review obligations, signing with a multinational caused a stir and considerable talk at the time. But the three boys from Minneapolis couldn't care less about any criticism, any words uttered against their epochal choice; free to act, to assert their status as a symbol band of a generation. And not only of their generation given what happened after the dramatic end in early 1988.

And here comes the dark "Candy Apple Grey" which has the merit of pushing the musical coordinates even further; they are no longer the bad and unlistenable blacksmiths who churned out bursts of sound lasting a handful of seconds in their not-too-distant beginnings (remember, musically they only lasted eight years). Let's also forget the Hardcore-Punk of the seminal and just mentioned "Zen Arcade" (here I open a parenthesis to add that this auditory monolith was recorded live "as it comes and goes"...and the result still commands reverence and respect today). The brutal previous sound excursions are partly replaced, only partly because the album doesn't lack metallic bursts, particularly regarding Bob's piercing guitar, with a Power-Pop rich in arrangements; once again bewildering but "ahead" by decades compared to the competition of their historical period.

Sorry Somehow is the first single from the new album and for once Bob puts aside his boundless ego, his desire to be number one and the band's reference point. He gives free rein to Grant, who seems somehow apprehensive and remorseful, translating the title, of the granted honor. It's his melodic and "polite" voice that stands out in the over four minutes of the splendid song; they've never been so Pop and linear and Bob also adapts by setting aside his interpretative frenzy, his incendiary six-string, releasing a solo of rare beauty. To me, one of the band's countless and thrilling peaks (listen to the ending and you'll agree with me 100%).

Bob's decisive reply is not long in coming; he writes All This I've Done For You with his own hand, making it clear that there is a turn towards more easily accessible sounds, but the Punk roots must remain steadfast; no Warner can change that. That dynamic and sharp guitar, his fierce and aggressive voice, that substantial and precise drumming: if this is not another masterpiece of a track, it is very close to one.

There are two other tracks that capture them in an unusual acoustic live setting, complete with bucolic whistling, which once again demonstrates the uniqueness of a band we will never forget...CELEBRATED SUMMER...

Now I can sleep peacefully.

Diabolos Rising 666.