CD of The Week

Bob Mould is one of those prolific songwriters that is either well-loved or virtually unknown by the public. Even those familiar with his past iconic bands of Hűsker Dű and Sugar, might lose sight when it comes to his solo albums. But behind their backs and at his own pace, Mould continues to churn out consistent, reliable records that have his immediately recognizable style. With Beauty & Ruin, Mould picks up right where his last album, Silver Age, left off, even employing the same support: Jason Narducy (Split Single, Verbow) and drummer Jon Wurster (Superchunk, Mountain Goats). This album tends to have a little more fuzz (album opener “Low Season” and “The War”), and often runs straight ahead with its head down (“Little Glass Pill” and “Kid With The Crooked Face”) and still, the album fits perfectly into the sludgy 90’s style of angst-y emotional release. In fact, the single “I Don’t Know You Anymore” would have been a radio hit back in 1994, and “Tomorrow Morning” with a great power pop hook, sounds like a single from Sugar’sCopper Blue.

But where most of the 90’s angst was manufactured and undeserved, the sentiments offered on this, Mould’s 11th solo album, are true and methodical. Beauty & Ruin is virtually a concept album, where it condenses Mould’s life and lessons learned into 36 minutes. Mould himself calls the album a “Compact Epic” and he concentrated on crafting a narrative arc across the album, encompassing everything he was going through, brought on with the passing of his father. He said the album is broken down into “three-song packets” starting with loss, moving to reflection, acceptance, and finishing with a focus on the warm, sunny future. The personal theme is well represented by the cover: a fading photo of his current 53 year old self being overtaken by a young, smoking Mould on the left. The final reflection on Mould’s experiences is found in the title. Mould explains, “I think the two [Beauty & Ruin] are oftentimes the same. I think one can always lead to the other, and that’s just the nature of things.” Mould is right: it sometimes takes some sort of ruin before one can see the beauty in things. Mould has had a lifetime to come to this conclusion and he has presented it effortlessly on this, what could be considered a culmination of his life’s work.