Bob Mould — District Line

District Line

Anti-/FAB

Steve McLean (CHARTattack)

02/05/2008 2:25pm

While Mould has recorded some excellent songs on his five solo albums since 1989's Workbook, that aspect of his career has always been overshadowed by his groundbreaking work with Husker Du and the muscular buzz-pop he created with Sugar. So I looked forward to District Line after reading that it was a return to earlier form, which only increased my disappointment when I realized it wasn't. While there are big guitars and drums in opener "Stupid Now," it's also the first of too many tracks to employ a vocoder that alters the distinctive voice best showcased here on "Return To Dust." "The Silence Between Us" is a pop song that rocks, but exhibits more restraint than it should. "Shelter Me" should fit in well at the club nights that Mould now hosts, but dance music wasn't what got me interested in his work. Part of Husker Du's reputation was based on eardrum-shattering volume, which made their quieter acoustic numbers that much more memorable. But here they just blend in with mid-tempo rock songs to create aural wallpaper that fails to inspire.

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