District Line

Bob Mould
Anti

Give out rocker Bob Mould credit for not standing in place. He helped define punk and post punk with his 80s band Husker Du, and explored a more melodic sound with his 90s band Sugar. In his solo work he's run the gamut from acoustic concerts deejaying and electronica. Lately he's been back in rock n' roll mode, albeit in a more mellow, radio-friendly vein. As a child of the 80s, I miss the harder edged Mould who only makes brief appearances here, with the guitar squalls of "Return to Dust" and the arena rock fun of "Stupid Now." Most of the album, though, is damned with faint praise. Nice enough but overproduced, with Mould's typically thoughtful lyrics buried under the guitars and drums. There are also weird electronic touches here like vocal processing, that probably seemed fun on paper but don't quite mesh with the rock guitars.