Candy Apple Grey

iTunes Review

For their major label debut, Minnesota's hardest rocking post-punks finally receive the production might that eluded them throughout their days on the independent labels. The extra sonic punch brings Bob Mould's assaulting guitars to the forefront without burying the vocals under the wall of sound. With two strong songwriters in the group — Mould and drummer Grant Hart — Hüsker Dü were able to bend their attack towards power pop ends without going completely soft. "Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely," "Sorry Somehow," "Dead Set On Destruction," and "Eiffel Tower High" are elegant, well-crafted pop songs delivered with an extra blast of feedback and committed passion. Hart's "Too Far Down" and Mould's "Hardly Getting Over It" are stirring ballads that prove the band wasn't just about pure aggression but were also driven by a deep emotionalism that partly hinged on their identity as aging rockers in a perpetually youth-based world. Mature punk? It might seem like a contradiction, but it's that tension that drives their finest work.