Bob Mould – Black Sheets Of Rain (1990)

Bought many moons ago, this second solo album from Bob Mould has long been regarded as one of his most bleak and impenetrable, and one which only gets a very infrequent outing.

Certainly it has a sound closer to the darker sections of Husker Du than to Mould's previous album, Workbook, which was at times quite light and poppy. He's joined on this album by bassist Tony Maimone (from Pere Ubu) and drummer Anton Fier (Pere Ubu and Golden Palaminos), giving a real power to the sound.

Unfortunately, the songs don't feel as strong as Workbook, the unrelenting darkness, most of the songs being about relationship breakups and failures, become wearing. I say unrelenting, that's an exaggeration - It's Too Late is more upbeat and bright, while Out Of Your Life is almost cheery. But the titles - Stop Your Crying, Hanging Tree, The Last Night, Disappointed - tell the story.

They aren't bad songs, and would have their place amid the light and shade of most albums, but when it's all shade, it's a difficult listen. I really wouldn't recommend this as a starting point for people curious to discover Bob Mould (and you really should be), but there's enough there to interest the ear.

Link to album tracks

3* - a bleak listen, but there's enough if you persevere.