New Day Rising

Certain Songs #648: Hüsker Dü – “Books About UFOs”

September 13, 2016 by Jim Connelly

Album: New Day Rising
Year: 1985

(Hart)

With its jaunty rhythm, barrelhouse piano and upbeat melody, Grant Hart’s “Books About UFOs” pretty much symbolized the poppier direction in which Hüsker Dü was taking their punk rock buzzsaw.

An unabashed love song, “Books About UFOs” was undoubtedly a gateway jam for of people who would have otherwise been put off by Hüsker Dü simply by reputation as a hardcore punk band. I can imagine more than one person heard “Books About UFOs” on their friendly local college radio station and when finding out it was Hüsker Dü, being surprised. And wanting to hear more.

Certain Songs #647: Hüsker Dü – “Celebrated Summer”

September 12, 2016 by Jim Connelly

Album: New Day Rising
Year: 1985

(Mould)

I’ve only ever been to Minneapolis-St. Paul one time. It was to see The Replacements, of course, much of the fun of the trip was hanging out with the people who lived there. So Larry & Kevin gave us a tour before the show and Ira and Myra had lunch the day after the show.

Both days were lovely, gorgeous summer days. And during lunch that second day, Ira was telling a story about one of the winters, and in the middle of it he casually mentioned that it was too cold to snow before continuing with the story.

Too cold to snow.

Certain Songs #646: Hüsker Dü – “I Apologize”

September 11, 2016 by Jim Connelly

Album: New Day Rising
Year: 1985

(Mould)

One of the most extraordinary things about Hüsker Dü was how ordinary they seemed.

While that kind of ordinariness is now the stock in trade of indie rock, in the mid-1980s, you still looked kinda how you sounded. Even The Replacements had their waxed up hair and their painted shoes.

So that’s what was so weird about Hüsker Dü. Three schlubs, two of them verging on overweight, and the third with a completely cheesy — and ironically, kinda gay-seeming — handlebar mustache. So, totally not hardcore. Jesus, Bob Mould even played a Gibson Flying V!

Certain Songs #645: Hüsker Dü – “New Day Rising”

September 10, 2016 by Jim Connelly

Album: New Day Rising
Year: 1985

(Mould, Hart, Norton)

New day rising

In December, 1984, while we were all still digesting Zen Arcade, SST Records sent us an white-sleeved advance 7″ promotional single of a couple of songs from Hüsker Dü’s next album.

New day rising

On one side was the ostensible single, “Celebrated Summer,” and on the other side was the title track, “New Day Rising.”

New day rising

That right there, kids, is how you announce that an album as momentous as Zen Arcade isn’t a fluke, but rather a harbinger.