#488

Impressions:  Back in junior high (mid ’80s,) lots of friends of mine started getting in to hardcore music. They got mohawks, would wear punk t-shirts to school and go slamdancing at shows at the Caberet Metro or Aragon Ballroom (aka the “Brawlroom.”) Naturally, I was interested in hearing what kind of music would make someone shave their head for it. I couldn’t really find any of this stuff on the radio, so I gave a blank tape to a plugged-in, music buff friend of mine and asked for some “punk music” I could sample. Well, I guess I meant “early ’80s California hardcore” (ie. Circle Jerks, Suicidal Tendencies, Dead Kennedys, etc.) but I didn’t know the difference. Instead of that, he gave me The Clash’s first album on one side and Hüsker Dü’s New Day Rising on the other. To me, this was worlds away from the boring Huey Lewis and Mr. Mister stuff that was being offered at the time. This album really blew me away. I was used to ’80s pop artists front-loading their LPs with the hits and the rest of the tracks being filler. New Day Rising (and The Clash) were the first albums I listened to where I realized that every song could be great on a record. What a concept! Let’s put this on and see if it holds up… The title track with its jackhammer beat, sheets of grinding metal guitars, and howling mantra of “NEW DAY RISING” is still a jarring, tone-setting opener. With fun-yet-fractured tracks like “The Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill,” “If I Told You,” Terms of Psychic Warfare,” and “Books About UFOs.” Grant Hart (SINGING DRUMMER ALERT!) matches Bob Mould song for song and the tension between these two songwriters plus the bands expansive playing, pushes the music out of hardcore’s narrow box and into something larger. Not ever going to be considered radio-friendly, but still theres tons of catchy songs buried under the howling guitar attack. “Celebrated Summer” could be Mould’s finest moment; a ferocious hard rocking arrangement mixed with a gentle 12-string acoustic break and melancholy lyrics about summers past. A “Summertime Blues” for the ’80s punk era. Only little complaint: thin, tinny production, a relic of the ’80s hardcore era, sometimes holds a few tracks back. But the songs are stellar, they play with balls-out abandon, and they mix abrasive and catchy together like popcorn and Raisinettes (trust me, it’s delicious.) A personal favorite.