Customer Reviews

District Line [Vinyl]

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Bookended between two exceptional tracks ("Stupid Now" and the years' old / finally recorded "Walls in Time"), the bulk of Bob Mould's DISTRICT LINE is -- like the man himself -- honest, artful, and, for those of us who have followed his career since the beginning, subtle in its complexity.

On the heels of BODY OF SONG (arguably he's strongest collection of songs since WORKBOOK), DISTRICT LINE shows a Bob who is finally comfortable with the many aspects of himself that once seemed in conflict. Searing guitar riffs layer more organically over electronic blips and beeps. Acoustic guitar lead-ins find good company and solid grounding in Brendan Canty's drums. Even the cello returns! And keyboards fill in the empty spaces while a pop-sensibility sits side by side with some serious introspection.

Is it old ground? Certainly. But for the first time (BODY OF SONG included), Bob sounds satisfied with it all. Comfortable. Dare I say "happy"?

Some songs miss the mark in mix-down. Vocals seem lost in the otherwise rocking "Return to Dust" and "Shelter Me" throws everything but the kitchen sink into the mix. Perhaps the biggest disappointment? "Walls in Time" -- a song of such intensity and beauty that, when played live, has literally brought me to tears -- is a solid arrangement but lacks the vocal potency that Bob has shown countless times in concert (compare to some bootlegs out there and hear how these lyrics can truly move you). Still, the strength of tracks like "Silence Between Us" and the aforementioned "Stupid Now" more than makes DISTRICT LINE a keeper.

The familiar themes of lost love, missed opportunities, and the spaces between us are all there.

When, on "Again and Again," we hear "I'm OK, I've been OK, I'll stay OK," it seems we're privy to more than a lover's declaration of self-worth, but a statement of where the artist is at this time in his life. And while new listeners may find it hard to jump on the Bobwagon with this one, fans will find the journey continues for this open, honest artist that we have seen grow from an angry punk into a mature songwriter of considerable depth and talent.

Before I end, I wanted to say that I had the pleasure of meeting Bob during a DVD screening / show / signing for CIRCLE OF FRIENDS in Philly. He probably just thought I was another awkward bald fan who tried desperately to verbalize his music's importance in my life and, well, frankly, failed. And he would be right. I hope that, in some small way, my little review for amazon customers can make up for that awkward moment and maybe sell a few more CDs. It's the least I can do for a guy who has contributed to the soundtrack of many lives, like mine.

Bob Mould has always been one of those artists I've respected more than I've enjoyed. It's an odd kind of statement, I know, but there's a lot of artists who qualify: men and women who are artistically skilled, admired by their peers, masters at crafting songs or writing lyrics that ring true in all new ways...but that don't quite hook me. It's not that I'm unfamiliar. I own all of his solo work and have listened to most of my husband's collection of Husker Du and Sugar. It's just that while I've appreciated his music, not much of it has tended to stick with me. With this album, that changed. It was during the third song, "Again and Again," that I fell in love.

The first couple of songs are enjoyable, clever and inventive in some places, catchy and relatively radio friendly. Seconds after the third song started, I put it back to the beginning and turned up the volume. When it was over, I played it again. Strangely uptempo, it is an utter heartbreaker. I don't think I've ever heard Mould's voice so vulnerable and emotional.

Other tracks, too, have plenty of charm. "Return to Dust" and "Shelter Me" find Mould returning from that vulnerability to a more characteristic blending of his voice into the song, until it sometimes becomes difficult to separate it--a vocal trick that he uses to good effect to emphasize voice-as-instrument. The uneven sound levels of "Return to Dust" make it sometimes hypnotic. Mould's incorporation of elements from electronica into "Miniature Parade" and trance into "Shelter Me" have a similar effect. The strings in "Walls in Time" are gorgeous.

Mould is an artist, like Kristin Hersh of Throwing Muses, who has always seemed to me interested in developing different aspects of his musical genius in different projects. This is not a new face for Mould. What it is, in my opinion, is a good continuance into those aspects he's explored in his earlier solo work. He's trying on a little new, further developing a lot of old; continuing to reach and expand in areas he already knows well. There should be material here to appeal to old fans and to (hopefully) draw in new. I've always been happy to give Mould and his albums their props. This one, I'm happy to give my time and my full attention...and I won't be at all surprised if I head back to his earlier material to find that they, too, have magic I missed.

A happier Bob Mould? He sure sounds comfortable in his current groove. Whereas his solo career has previously been marked by blatant pendulum swings between two polar opposites---indie rock and heavily-vocoded dance electronica---lately Mould has struck a cozy balance between the two. Modulate era fans will lap up "Shelter Me" while the traditionalists rally behind "Stupid Now," the hardest rocking tune on District Line outside of the blistering guitar and pond-skipping blip-blop synth duet of "The Silence Between Us." A (slightly overlong at over six minutes) acoustical outtake from Mould's Workbook closes the disc.

Even "Shelter Me" is accessible to those with an open mind. Dizzying, shimmery pad swells and android drumming sweep Mould's vocals along; any frugal plucks of guitar serve only as subtle accentuation, but the track is still far more organic, open and free-flowing than other dance club hitmongers like, say, Fatboy Slim or The Prodigy, summing up in a single track the direction which Mould seems intent upon steering his musical output.

While groovy all the same, the more "rock" moments on District Line tend toward an easy-going, midtempo head-bob the likes of "Very Temporary" and its simple vocal hook. Paired with some debatably awful lyricism for a musician of his history ("Just to please you, I'd blow my brains out, this is it/ Cut my heart out with a razor now"), it's easy to say that Mould is coasting on the waves he used to make. Given the wide appeal and success of Hüsker Dü, a band Mould consistently derides as contributing to some of the worst times of his life, it's also easy to see why. Still, "midtempo" is a word that never should have to be used to describe the musical output of someone who played guitar for the Hüskers.

District Line is a slam dunk in at least one sense: front to back, it's a great pop album which openly wields production and electronic garnish as worthwhile techniques, without allowing complete obliteration of the rock analog underneath. The edge and breakneck pace of Hüsker Dü have dulled and slowed, but Mould certainly isn't capable of writing a terrible song. He's just happier and easier-going now, and that's not necessarily a great thing if your fans happen to be agitated punks who still crave Sugar. Punks who can put down all expectations will grow comfortably old with Bob.

After regrettably resigning myself to the thought "Bob Mould now sucks" (after Body Of Song and Modulate), all I can really write intelligibly about this album is "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

District Line heralds the return of Mould's glistening 12-string acoustic as much as it finally pays off on his promise to start rocking again. More than that, though, it reasserts his ability to make a total album instead of an inconsistent batch of songs bound together by being housed in the same jewel case.

I am not one of the electronica-haters that demands that Mould return to the Black Sheets Of Rain days. In fact, District Line incorporates quite a bit of electronic sounds. The difference is the songs. Where the previous two albums tried to force-fit his songwriting style onto his nascent flounderings with electronic textures, District Line finally integrates them. The songs are better, the production is better, and the album is better. In fact it is pretty damn wonderful.

There is a John Doe-like maturity to this new batch of songs. One would have to be a complete moron to accuse Bob Mould of not being a mature songwriter -- however, that said, the last two albums represent the songwriting doldrums of a long and accomplished career.

On District Line, Mould exudes confidence from the ground up. The songs, although occasionally overwrought ("Again And Again" could probably shed a verse or two and at least a pound of earnestness), sound fully realized and come replete with memorable hooks -- and not memorable because they're bad (ahem, Modulate, cough cough).

He's even canny enough to bury a snub in "The Silence Between Us" -- and it is a snub directed at us finicky listeners as much as at critics ready to hairshirt Mould for daring to veer from his punk roots. There it is: about three seconds of wiggly electronic sounds buried in the middle of an otherwise rootsy, old school Bob Mould delivery, existing merely to thumb his nose at those who denied him the right to experiment and fail at it. Every artist's right.

I first became aware of Bob Mould by way of Paste Magazine's New Music Sampler Issue 41. That being said, I know little to nothing of his past bands. But that doesn't matter. From the moment "The Silence Between Us" radiated from my speakers, I was hooked. And there's much to love on the full album, "District Line." While the music is nothing this fan of late 1990's alternative pop rock hasn't heard before, the 10 tracks are hook-laden, unabashed melodic gems, if slightly overproduced, with ample guitar crunch and just a touch of vocal effects. All in all, this is one solid set. If you're eagerly awaiting new music from Vertical Horizon in the vein of their 1999 and 2004 albums, "Everything You Want" and "Go," you won't be disappointed taking Bob Mould's "District Line" for a spin.

Don't Miss: "Stupid Now," "Old Highs, New Lows," "The Silence Between Us," and "Shelter Me."

Wade through the slick-synths and tune out the vocal-effects and you just might get a kick out of the lyrics: Bob Mould still remains a king when it comes to heart on your sleeve self-analysis. There are four super songs here, but you need to break through the oddball production Mould drenches "District Line" in. Granted, I understand Bob has been making the DC Scene as a DJ these days, so taking a cool song like "Shelter Me" and casting it as a tecnho number is understandable. But it still buries the song under unnecessary layers of sludge.

When Bob stays with clean production, as he does on the opener "Stupid Now," he matches the power of his best solo work. Same goes for my favorite song here, "Very Temporary," which sounds like a rock and roll love/hate letter to his adopted digs of DC. There's even a nod to his days in Sugar, as "The Silence Between Us" harkens back to Copper Blue.

Overall, this is a modest album from a guy that has a few greats under his belt. If it weren't Bob-Friggen-HuskerDu-Mould (and he was 20 years younger), "District Line" would be called a promising debut from a literate newcomer. As it is, "District Line" offers occasional reminders of Bob's huge talents that might have been better appreciated with less overbearing production.

This new Bob Mould release finds him mining similar ground as his 2005 release "Body of Song". Like that disc, "District Line" is melodic and accessible. Technology at times overwhelms what Bob does best (thus four instead of five stars).

I enjoyed his typically well-crafted songs and lyrics, but some songs needed something more gritty and organic. Bob's voice works well in a raw context, so why subject it to electronic processing? In addition, I got the sense that some shredding guitar work was somehow being kept from us.

That said, I enjoyed the techno-beat meets Mould "Shelter Me", and all of the songs will be enjoyed by anyone who appreciates Bob, Sugar, or Husker Du's acessible stuff.

Stongly recommended, with slight reservations.

I agree with some of the commentators that this effort may be a little "over produced." However, this CD is also filled with songs with great melodic hooks, smart lyrics, and churning guitar--in short, the stuff we want from Bob Mould. I don't think we can expect Bob to stay the same person he was in the Husker era, the Workbook era, or the Sugar era. He has a right to grow as an artist. I think this album shows that growth, while still being accessible to those of us who most appreciate his pre-Modulate work.

This is the first Bob album to not immediately smack me across the face with its brilliance. "Stupid Now" is an incredible opening track -- all melody, passion, and Mould's roaring guitar. But what follows felt, in places, rather hookless to me. Not bad by any means; it's just that Bob has set the bar pretty damn high for himself over the years. Nonetheless, I kept listening. In every song there are superior passages to grab onto, either lyrically or musically and as only Bob can deliver. DISTRICT LINE slowly revealed itself to me as yet another strong Mould album, albeit a subtler and more textured one. Not a lame tune in the bunch, and even some brand new classics. "Stupid Now," "Again and Again," "Old Highs, New Lows," "The Silence Between Us," and "Very Temporary," (my favorite cut on the album) all qualify.

Allright so no this is not anything like Husker Du or even that similar to the Sugar records. Is that what a lot of you really want? Retreads of old music? A man closing in on 50 trying to sound like he did when he was 25? So first of all you need to take this c.d for what it is, a founding father of Alternative Rock who now seems pretty content with his life and is enjoying doing what he does now and not retreading into the past.

That being said there is lot here that will at least recall his work with Sugar, loud crunching guitars and soaring melodies. This is easily his most catchy post-Sugar work to date. Mould has finally found out how to blend his past with his recent dabbles in techno.

So don't beleieve all the nay sayers who spout nonsense like it is his worst ever or that he sounds like Gordon Lightfoot (that one had me cracking up). This is alternative rock with electronica touches that is crisp, clean, and well-crafted. My only complaint would be the over use of the vocorder (I think that is what it is called) but it appears as though that is going to be a staple of his records for the foreseeable future and it doesn't bother me that much.