Pioneering punk songwriter Bob Mould plays solo show at Chapel
SAN FRANCISCO -- An iconic musician and songwriter who exerted a huge influence on '80s punk and '90s alternative-rock bands, Bob Mould plays a solo electric show at the Chapel as part of this year's 30th anniversary Noise Pop Festival.
A founding member of pioneering Minneapolis punk trio Hüsker Dü, Mould started the band with drummer Grant Hart and bassist Bob Norton in 1979. Matching hardcore ferocity and speed with a gift for melodic songwriting no other punk band came close to, Hüsker Dü built a rabidly loyal following with its early tours and initial output on SST Records, including such indelible classics as the frenetic live album Land Speed Record, their studio debut Everything Falls Apart and their landmark double LP Zen Arcade in 1984, a sprawling, ambitious effort which showed the band pushing the boundaries of punk.
The group moved to Warner Bros. Records after releasing Flip Your Wig in 1985, its final recording for SST that showed the band in full power-pop mode, having largely left it's early punk sound behind. The two albums released for the major label -- Candy Apple Gray and Warehouse: Songs and Stories -- had minimal commercial impact, but are often credited with laying the groundwork for many of the alt-rock and noise-pop bands that would emerge after the group split in 1988.
Following the split, Mould would quit drinking and doing drugs before focusing on his first solo effort, Workbook, that took his music in a lighter, more singer/songwriter direction. However, the musician would return to working in band setting (as well as his gift for mixing buzz-saw guitars and pop melodies) in 1992 with the power trio Sugar, which put out two acclaimed albums and an EP during its brief three years in existence.
In the decades since, Mould has continued to explore confessional solo acoustic songwriting and loud, tuneful rock with equal success, as well as detouring into electronic dance music both on recordings and as a DJ. Mould has also something of a fixture in San Francisco, taking up part-time residence in a Castro District apartment and appearing at multiple editions of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in Golden Gate Park over the years.
Mould performed as part of 2021's virtual Hardly Strictly Everywhere, appearing on the festival's livestream in a duo with veteran Saturday Night Live comic and accomplished musician Fred Armisen (who played drums with Devo during the band's Burger Boogaloo set in Oakland several years ago). Mould also delivered a blistering set at August Hall with his current band featuring bassist Jason Narducy and drummer John Wurster.
Mould's latest album Blue Hearts came out on Merge Records in September of 2020, but the tour a year later marked the first time he was able to take to the road to promote it since the beginning of the pandemic. A fiery collection of songs ruminating on everything from climate change and political/social turmoil in the U.S. to more internal self-reflection, the album stands as another powerful statement from one of the most vital artists of his generation.
Last year, Mould released the follow-up solo acoustic EP The Ocean, which features two songs from Blue Hearts and a version the Hüsker Dü classic "Divide and Conquer" that were recorded in San Francisco for the NPR show World Cafe. For this sold-out solo electric show for Noise Pop at the Chapel Thursday, Mould will be joined by noted San Francisco singer and songwriter Mark Eitzel. While best known as the frontman for beloved SF indie outfit American Music Club, Eitzel is a prolific solo artist who has put out a steady string of acclaimed albums since AMC split in 2010. He also wrote the music and lyrics for the songs in Cornelia Street, a new musical that opened in New York City earlier this year and is his third collaboration with British playwright Simon Stephens.
Noise Pop 30: Bob Mould and Mark Eitzel
Thursday, February 22, 7 p.m.
The Chapel
