Ducks Battle Satan

When people discuss Husker du the focus is always on the three truly great albums  they produced for SST Zen Arcade, New Day Rising and Flip Your Wig. Anyone who has any interest in music and specificaly pink music of the 1980’s need to have those records in their collection. After producing those three records, Husker Du were signed by a major label and produced Candy Apple Grey which although not without it’s strengths is my least favourite of Husker Du’s records. The record that seems to be often mentioned as no more than a postscript is the truly awesome, Warehouse: Songs and Stories, their last record before calling it a day in 1987. I’ve read that by the time they came around to making this record Hart and Mould were estranged and  as a record it certainly lacks some cohesion. What the record does have is the strongest song writing from Hart or Mould up until that time. The tinny production that is a common criticism of the SST years is gone with a pop sensibility overlayining their punk roots. But at the end of the day the strength of Warehouse: Songs and Stories is the songs. I mean seriously how can anyone not love a record that has Could You Be he One, It’s Not Peculiar and Up In the Air? In my opinion, Warehouse is as important as those three magic SST records and in some sectors that may be heresy but seriously this record is amazing. It was a fitting way to end their career.

Husker Du live on the Late Show (cringe along with the interview at the end!)

When you think that Husker Du produced three of rocks best albums in less than a year, and one of those records was a double, you realise just how full on the work ethic of the SST bands was. Those three records, Zen Arcade, New Day Rising and Flip Your Wig, take up three places in my Top five punk records of the 1980’s. Every rock geek has their particular favourite and I’m no different. Flip Your Wig was their last record for SST before unleashing the less than satisfying Candy Apple Grey on Warners. I think Flip Your Wig is the best out of the three for the simple reasons that the production is better and they finally gave in to their pop instincts are wrote some of the strongest songs of their career. On Flip Your Wig, Grant Hart doesn’t sound like he’s playing the drums with knitting needles and the tinniness of the production on their previous output has been replaced with some real grunt. Bob Mould’s voice still sounds like the best voice in rock and when it kicks into gear on the unashamedly pop “Makes No Sense at All” you realise that you’d be hardpressed to find a better example of mid 1980’s punk. This record is the shit but just go and buy all three anyway.

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