Like another famous musician named Bob, Bob Mould contains multitudes. In his more than 40-year career, Mould has gone from making hardcore punk with Husker Du to becoming one of the most revered figures in alternative (even if he did write a song called “I Hate Alternative Rock.”)
Along the way, Bob made his solo debut with the largely acoustic Workbook in 1989 and dabbled electronica. A lifelong wrestling fan, he worked for World Championship Wrestling during its dying days. He’s never lost the intensity and fury of his early work, though, and he played loud and fast in his recent sold-out appearance at the Black Cat, blazing through nearly songs in his 90-minute set.
Last month, Bob released his first album in five years, Here We Go Crazy, a set of songs informed by his frustrations with the world around in. In that way, it’s not entirely dissimilar from his last record, the highly political Blue Hearts. At Black Cat on May 7, Mould’s set featured a number of tracks from the album, including the title cut, “Neanderthal,” “You Need to Shine,” “Hard to Get,” “Fur Mink Augurs,” and “When Your Heart Is Broken.”
The songs are as intense and well-crafted as anything as anything he’s written but also full of grief and rage. This is nothing new for Mould: A critic remarked that, even on an album like 2019’s Sunshine Rock, there isn’t all that much sunshine. Which is interesting, because he’s really a very nice guy: It strikes me that he channels a lot of his negative emotions into the work, and that gets it out of his system.
Watch the official music video for “Here We Go Crazy” by Bob Mould on YouTube:
Drummer Jon Wurster (a longtime former member of Superchunk who currently also plays in The Mountain Goats) and bassist Jason Narducy (who recently toured with actor Michael Shannon playing REM’s Fables of the Reconstruction) have proven to be a huge asset to Mould both in his recordings and in his live performances. They’re season musicians with decades of experience, and the trio gives this music the punch and energy it needs.
Speaking of Blue Hearts, much of that music — recorded during the first Trump administration — is still relevant, and was represented in equal part with the new material: “Forecast of Rain,” “American Crisis,” “Siberian Butterfly,” “The Ocean,” “Fireball,” and “Next Generation.” His deep and varied solo catalog was well represented, too: “Star Machine,” “The Descent,” “Daddy’s Favorite,” “Black Confetti,” “I Don’t Know You Anymore,” “You Say You,” and “The War.”
The second half of the set included a number of fan favorites from his Husker Du days: “Never Talking to You Again,” “Celebrated Summer,” “Flip Your Wig,” “Hate Paper Doll,” “Something I Learned Today,” and “Makes No Sense At All,” which closed out the show. He also played a cover of Sonny Curtis’s “Love Is All Around. Interestingly, he didn’t touch on his mid-’90s material with the band Sugar; with such a large songbook, he can’t do everything every night.
J. Robbins, a longtime fixture of DC’s punk scene who led Burning Airlines and Jawbox, opened the show with an impressive set. After decades of numerous band projects, Robbins went solo in 2019 with Un-Becoming, followed by last year’s Basilisk. The connection with Mould, one of his influences, was obvious, with similarities in their musical and lyrical approaches, and their explicit politics. Robbins has been doing this almost as long as Mould, and all that experiences is reflected in the quality of his work.
Robbins and Mould both come from the world of hardcore punk, but they’re bigger than that: In their long and celebrated careers, they’ve made music that pushes boundaries and expanded beyond that narrowed community, and they’ve done it without making artistic concessions. In a business where longevity is often limited, they’ve managed to stick around for a very long time because they’re damned good.
Here are some phots of Bob Mould (and Jason Narducy) performing live at Black Cat on May 7, 2025.
Here are some phots of J. Robbins performing live at Black Cat on May 7, 2025.
