Through repetitive experimentation in college and graduate school we found that our best bet while prepping for final exams was to hit repeat on Joy Division, The Fall or Husker Du.  While others were aghast, we would let the white noise wash over and soothe, but could also take a brief break and embrace a bit of brilliance before getting back to it.

Husker Du (Bob Mould, Grant Hart and Greg Norton) was at the heart of our music appreciation from ’83 to ’86, and their speed-dialed songs are forever stamped in our minds.  Their albums New Day Rising, Flip Your Wig, and Candy Apple Grey formed a tenebrous triumvirate that still reverberate in our ears.  If you don’t know all of these fine albums, you’ve simply flipped your wig.

And then the band broke up, and songwriters Bob Mould and Grant Hart went their separate ways.   Mould put out a couple of solo albums and then a few more as a part of the band Sugar.  While each release had outstanding moments, in general the material never hit the hallowed heights of Husker Du.  We were heartened, however, to catch Mould’s solo set at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival last fall, during which he blazed solo on his trademark blue Stratocaster.  You could tell the lad still had it in spades.

Fast forward to yesterday when Mould released a brand new album, Silver Age, supported by Jon Wurster on drums and Jason Narducy on bass and background vocals.  Silver Age is being roundly praised for its “molten, melodic energy” and “sculpted energy.”  We’ve frankly still been a bit skeptical about the need for the new album.  Until last night.

Mould, Wurster and Narducy showed up on the Letterman Show last night, and scorched the stage with mid-’80s energy on the album’s first single, The Descent, and explained the need.  Check it out below.  As usual with Letterman, Dave’s and Paul’s reaction is always telling, and while Mould can be seen in the background smiling in relief, Dave can only exclaim:  “Now we’re talking.  That’s what you want.  No more calls.  What a treat!”  Despite being at it forever, Mould refuses to back off and shows that he’s still got a lot to say in his silver age.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ieb_T9ylY4o&feature=player_embedded