Bob Mould’s first album in 3 years has been hailed as his return to Sugar-style heavy pop. In parts, it delivers. It opens strongly as the band rip into Star Machine, The Descent and the title track, the last of which features a particularly satisfying riff.
On some tracks the originator (Mould) becomes the imitator as Briefest Moment and Fugue State come off like Stone Temple Pilots tracks. The anthemic, stately Steam of Hercules works better, it’s one of the more memorable tracks here.
Some of the material is not a million miles away from Foo Fighters-style rock (Round The City Square), ie there’s nothing wrong with it but nothing transcends. Songs like Angels Rearrange have a great guitar sound but something is lacking. Having said that, it’s probably his best album since his return to guitar rock in 2005. But with Mould having such a strong back catalogue, the album falls a little short.
Killian Laher
