Song of the Day 6/5: Bob Mould, “American Crisis”
Well, now Trump’s done it. He’s gone and pissed off former Hüsker Dü and Sugar frontman Bob Mould. Granted, that isn’t too hard to do — Mould has made a nearly 40-year career of getting tunefully pissed off — but it was only last year that he released an uncharacteristically optimistic LP, “Sunshine Rock.” The current pandemic put an end to that. Mould, who was still in the closet during the ’80s AIDS crisis, sees plenty of similarities. “The parallels between 1984 and 2020 are a bit scary for me: telegenic, charismatic leaders, praised and propped up by extreme Evangelicals, either ignoring an epidemic (HIV/AIDS) or being outright deceitful about a pandemic (COVID-19).” The tune will be on his next LP, “Blue Hearts,” scheduled for release in September.
Bob Mould is a national treasure. He hasn’t mellowed a bit, and I love him for it.
And a shout out (if that’s appropriate) to Steve Priest, bassist and sometimes lead singer of The Sweet, who passed away yesterday at 72. Kind of scary for me, as he was only two weeks older than I am.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewFBuYHldeY
“Are you ready, Steve?”