Bob Mould — Life And Times

Mould's ninth solo album in the 20 years since the break-up of Husker Du checks in with 10 songs performed in 38 minutes, so you're not getting the opus you might expect from the title. He's likely saving the meatier personal stuff to elaborate on more fully in next year's autobiography.

Mould recorded Life And Times in his home studio and played everything on it except drums, which were handled by Superchunk's Jon Wurster. Perhaps that led to the predictability of the record, as a number of songs start off acoustically and then build as they progress with the addition of Mould's razor-sharp electric guitar playing. That's particularly the case on mid-album tracks "Bad Blood Better" and "Wasted World."

"MM 17" and "Argos" (the latter apparently in reference to a gay bar Mould hung around at in his youth, and not Toronto's Canadian Football League team) are the most explosive cuts, but are still a far cry from Mould's brutal magnificence in Husker Du and Sugar. This is a slightly more consistent effort than last year's District Line and a decent listen, but won't likely affect your life and times much for better or worse.

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