Husker Du "The Living End"

 

Husker Du "The Living End" 8/10

This live set was originally released in 1994, 6 years after the breakup of Husker Du.  The first takeaway is how powerful this record sounds.  Husker Du's studio efforts are famously mired in terrible production.  Seriously, if your band gets signed to a label and they send Spot to produce it, you should just wipe your ass with the contract and move on to greener pastures.  The songs are so fantastic that they survive the bad mixing and terrible production, but the utter lack of low frequencies on the bass guitar, and the tin can sound of the drums make the rhythm section sound like amateurs on the studio releases.  Further complicating things, the first live Husker Du album was recorded live at First Avenue for about $300.  They should have asked for $295 back, as someone in the crowd with a tape recorder probably did a better job of capturing the set.

But, we aren't here to talk about the problems with the releases of the Husker Du catalog, we are here to discuss this fantastic sounding, career spanning, live set.  These live tracks are selections from the final Husker Du tour.  At this point, they had become an underground phenomenon, one of the first college rock radio bands to sign to a major label.  Still a cult band, their audience had nonetheless grown as relentless touring and frantic album releases had gradually built their listeners.

I like the final Husker Du studio album "Warehouse: Songs and Stories," but this set is WAY heavy on "Warehouse" tracks, while glossing over more celebrated releases, and ALMOST ignoring their sprawling and groundbreaking double album "Zen Arcade."  That is really my only complaint here; the balance of the catalog is a bit off, and a little bit too partial to the newest album of the time to the detriment of some great songs from other important releases.

Anyways, on to the ferocious rock n roll of Bob, Grant, and Greg.  

1) "New Day Rising"

The Huskers frequently opened their sets with this barn burner.  A study both in the frantic drumming of Grant Hart harkening back to their days as a lightening-fast hardcore band, as well as lyrical minimalism, as the only lines in the song are the title itself.  This ferocious opener for this set is also the opening track on their celebrated album of the same name.

2) "Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill"

This is Grant Hart's power ballad about an alcoholic that he knew.  Think Heaven Hill bourbon, not a place called Heaven Hill.  Grant belts out a story about a woman who is living in an apartment surrounded by empty bottles, dirty clothes, boxes, and a worn out welcome mat.  Greg Norton's brilliant bassline carries the melody of this song

3) "Standing in the Rain"

We get a stark departure from the more frantic punk openers to Bob Mould's more longing "Standing In the Rain."  This is one of those late period Husker tracks that oozes with pop catchiness, while still maintaining a rough edge.  The buzz saw guitar tone that was one of Bob's signatures just cuts through here.  The bass guitar brilliantly glues the drums and the razor edged lead.  Grant's backing vocals add a great melody to Bob's lead

4) "Back From Somewhere"

We get a poppier track here from Grant.  He really loved to write those big pre-chorus parts to pull us all into an anthemic sing-along.  A story chiding a lover from a disappearance to a sudden reappearance.  Even though this is also a late period Husker track, it has the markings of Grant Hart's heart on your sleeve style.

5) "Ice Cold Ice"

One of the heaviest tracks from "Warehouse: Songs and Stories" we get this great call and response between Bob and Grant.  Bob's songs always felt more bitter than Grants.  This one is frantic, heavy, bitter, and, well, cold.  This is the 3rd song in a row from the final Husker album, so it does meld well as a part of this collection.  It ends with a nice, almost metal, blast beat.

6) "Everytime"

This is the first non-album track, but still a part of the "Warehouse" sessions, as it was the B side to "Could You Be the One" (the A side being the song that the Huskers played on Joan Rivers' short lived late show).  This one is a rare writing credit for bassist Greg Norton.  It feels like a track that looks back towards Husker Du's more punk beginnings.

7) "Friend, You've Got to Fall"

This song starts by borrowing a little riff from none other than the Yardbirds.  Taking the lead from "Over Under Sideways Down" and planting it on its face, it gets a nice punk rock makeover.  Husker Du were never afraid to wear their influences on their sleeve, be it Donovan, the Suicide Comandos, The Yardbirds, etc.  

8) "She Floated Away"

Yet another one from the Warehouse collection.  Grant Hart wrote this one borrowing a classic melody reminiscent of Celtic folk.  It plays out like a class Irish drinking song/cautionary tale about a woman that will break your heart.

9 "From the Gut"

So, after a long trip into the final Husker Du release, they turn it around and get us this nugget from their first studio album.  Classic SST punk song, where the point is to get the message and the feeling through as quickly as possible.  Husker Du were masters of playing as fast as they could, and trying to get the song stuck in your head before you realize it is over.  The marching drum line of the verse will get your head nodding along, and foot tapping.

10) "Target"

Another track in a row from "Everything Falls Apart," and the same idea.  a short and sweet punk number.  Meant to get the mosh pits fired up.  A sort of political call to action that starts and stops before you know what just hit you.  

11) "It's Not Funny Anymore"

The lone track from the "Metal Circus" EP.  This was one of the first looks into Husker Du slowing things down a bit and bringing a little introspection into their writing.  Grant Hart still lets out some big screams, but the song does feel a little bit like Grant is hurt and maybe choking back some tears.

12) "Hardly Getting Over It"

So, here is our first peak in this set into just how prolific of a writer Bob Mould was becoming.  This song was originally an acoustic ballad on their major label debut, "Candy Apple Grey."  This electric makeover on this rendition doesn't sacrifice any of the tenderness of the song.  This is maybe one of the most heartbreaking songs in Bob Mould's long and storied career both as a front man of Husker Du and Sugar, as well as a solo artist.  You just feel the pain in this song.  Just a heart wrenching song about the inevitability of aging and death.

13) "Terms of Psychic Warfare"

A great Grant Hart track, as we find our way back to the seminal "New Day Rising" album.  Once again, Greg Norton's bass playing, full of hammer ons and pull offs makes up the driver for the melody.  For the quietest member of the band both sonically and publicly, he sure knew how to drive a song when it was necessary.  

14) "Powerline"

Another song from the "New Day Rising" record, and once again the soft bass guitar part finds the melody as Bob Mould's fuzzy guitar takes the backseat.  A song that always felt like it limped into the end of the NDR record finds itself center stage here, in its full glory.  This one is certainly a study in how good Husker Du's songs were, and how much more palatable their work would have been with a better producer.  

15) "Books About UFOs"

 Another narrative song by Grant Hart.  This time he seems to be singing about a much more happy go-lucky woman than in "Heaven Hill."  I can picture this quirky friend of his sitting around reading eclectic books, obsessing over oddities and conjecture.

16) "Divide and Conquer"

So, after 15 tracks in the curated set, we finally get a song from the "Flip Your Wig" LP.  It feels kind of strange that such an important album in the Husker Du catalog is so overlooked here.  This song is near and dear to my heart, because I read somewhere that Bob Mould wrote it backstage somewhere close to my home, in Newport Kentucky.  A great punk sing along anthem, with a bouncy guitar line punching through the whole song.  

17) "Keep Hanging On"

Another nugget from "Flip Your Wig."  Feedback laden with some great bass work.  Frantic vocals from Grant Hart.  Sometimes it is hard to tell if the stress in his voice is meant to be there, of if it is due to the physical stress of hammering away on the drums while singing lead.  Somehow, his voice still always comes out more melodic than Bob Mould's vocals.  When Grant Hart fires on all 4 cylinders like this one, he somehow balances punk cred, melody, a nod to power pop, and a vocal performance that begs to be sang along to.

18) "Celebrated Summer"

This song feels so autobiographical.  The introspective Bob Mould singing about memories from more wistful summers of his youth.  This would probably rank within my top 5 favorite Husker Du songs.  It is hard and fast, while simultaneously being sensitive.  On this live take, the drama of switch from punk anthem to acoustic ballad is a little lost, but just as the song feels like it is about to fall apart, it pops right back in.  It's hard to say if the "Celebrated Summer" is being looked at cynically, or with rose tinted glasses.  

19) "Now That You Know Me"

Here we catch a Grant Hart song that didn't show up until his first solo release following the breakup of Husker Du.  It is cool to hear a Husker Du version of it.  It definitely feels like a throwback to the more hardcore halcyon days of the band, while having a bit of the pop polish that began with their later records.

20) "Ain't No Water in the Well"

Another "new" song that Bob Mould wrote on this tour.  In retrospect, Bob Mould describes the song as "just okay" and I concur.  It feels a little phoned in as the rifts were growing in the band, and the rivalry between the chief songwriters went from friendly to bitter.  Wisely scrapped before Bob Mould released his fantastic solo debut, "Workbook."

21) "What's Going On"

How did we get 20 tracks in before ANYTHING from the fantastic "Zen Arcade" album gets its due?  "What's Going On" probably wouldn't be the "Zen" song I would add to the set, but it is a fun dual vocal performance between Grant and Bob, screaming about teen angst.  

22) "Data Control"

From the first live album to the last.  This song was from Husker Du's debut album, the live set "Land Speed Record."  As LSR is borderline unlistenable as it is a production nightmare, it is nice to hear this song a little bit more in the way that the audience actually experienced it.  This was the longest song in the LSR set, as some of the songs barely cracked a minute in length.

23) "In a Free Land"

Another one from the early days, this was Husker Du's second single.  It foreshadowed the things to come once they slowed down a bit and started writing about real life experiences, versus angry hardcore anthems. The call and response vocal trades between Grant and Bob are fantastic. 

24) "Sheena is a Punk Rocker"

A Ramones cover.  The Huskers do a pretty decent job at it, but a Ramones cover does feel a little bit safe.  Maybe it was because their audience was starting to grow beyond the underground crowd a bit and they were trying to introduce new fans to the music they loved, but it just feels like maybe too obvious of a choice.  I think I like their sort of cheeky cover of the Mary Tyler Moore theme song a bit more than this, but a live rendition of their fantastic send up of the Byrds' "8 Miles High" would have been a better fit for me.

Overall this is a fantastic live set.  A lot of animosity was boiling amongst the Husker Du members during this tour, Grant Hart's drug problem and misdiagnosis of HIV were tearing the band apart.  Despite the band being comprised of only 3 members, the egos of chief songwriters Bob Mould and Grant Hart were getting too big to share a single stage.  But this set at least gives listeners a glimpse into the power trio that they truly were live.

The Living End shows the carefully crafted stage presence and larger than life sound that Husker Du were capable of doing.  This live set also shows the potential of how great the songs really sound with proper production.  Many of these songs sound so much more powerful on this live set than on the album from which they were drawn.