Bob Mould Likes Rock 'N' Roll Again

Although it had no influence on his decision to retire from rock music in 1998, alternative god Bob Mould (ex Hüsker Dü) made it pretty clear that he was disgusted with the sad state of the whole scene when he left. Seven years and two electronic-flavoured albums later (Modulate and the Loud Bomb project), Mould has returned with a new guitar-driven album, Body Of Song, he's on the road with a band and it's not just his opinion of his own rock music that's changed. The man who wrote "I Hate Alternative Rock" almost a decade ago likes the new direction that the genre's taking. "I think it's a whole sight better. In the '90s, I think once Nirvana became popular, that seemed to be the template for everything for the next six to eight years and it wore out pretty quickly.

I think a lot of the things that are happening now are influenced by a different time and place, namely the spring of 1980," he laughs before continuing. "It's a little more refreshing and I think a lot of the new stuff, it's a little more innovative. I think the fact that, especially in the past couple years, people have warmed up to the idea of integrating electronics more in with guitars, I think that's helped add a lot of variety and a lot of newness to the sound. Yes, I think things are in a lot better shape."

The respect seems to be mutual as a number of newer artists have been discussing Mould's influence on their own music and turning their fans on to his body of work.

"I think there's people that are coming because of the name-dropping, whether it's Green Day or Foo Fighters or whoever it is that mentions that," he says. "I think those people come for the curiosity factor, which is nice."

But that doesn't mean that his longtime fans have turned away.

"It's a lot of the familiar faces," he says of crowds on his current North American tour. "There's a handful of people from the Husker Du days, there's a lot of people that got on at Workbook and there's a lot of Sugar fans and some of the newer people that got into Modulate. The set list is pretty deep and pretty well-rounded, so I think everybody's been walking away pretty happy from the shows."

And the fans aren't the only ones who are happy with this return to rock. Bob Mould seems to be enjoying himself, too.

"Seven years ago, I really didn't see myself doing this again and sometimes I'm not sure why I'm doing it this time," he admits. "But it pretty sure is fun."

source: chart attack