New Day Rising

After the two-LP concept album Zen Arcade, Hüsker Dü returned with a more conventional record, one that features all the band's strengths in 15 sharp doses. Songwriters Bob Mould and Grant Hart used every tool in their belts, from the band's aggression to its innate tunefulness, to sculpt songs that expressed a multitude of emotions in a variety of ways, far beyond a power trio's limits. Mould, the guitarist, drives the tunes past the breaking point, screeching guitar leads in between the power chords. Hart's "The Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill" tells the story of man obsessed; he screams until he nearly collapses. Mould's exemplary and haunting "Celebrated Summer" balances acoustic and electric guitars, while "I Apologize" jangles under the wall of sound. "Folk Lore," "If I Told You," the piano-tinkling "Books About UFOs," "Whatcha Drinkin'," and the dissonant buzzsaw of "How to Skin a Cat" represent the band's spirit and range. Unlike so many punk-pop bands that would follow in its wake, Hüsker Dü played hard, fast, and abrasive and never finessed the results. These songs bleed.