Bob Mould

One of America’s greatest songwriters, Bob Mould has awed the world of alternative music with the punk/post-punk of Hüsker Dü, the catchy sensory overload of Sugar, and the pure pop/rock brilliance of his solo work. In 2009—the 20th anniversary of Workbook—the journeyman releases a return to form called Life and Times, his ninth solo album. The disc is on par with the quality level reached on Workbook, The Last Dog and Pony Show, and the self-titled album, though doesn’t exceed it.

Often wrapped in Mould’s 12-string chords and powered by Jon Wurster's (Superchunk) drumming, it is the singer’s heartfelt melodies, emotionally raw lyrical content, and those wonderfully paint-peeling solos that make Life and Times a quintessential Mould affair. The title track is vintage Mould right down to the simple, yet uniquely tuneful, chorus, while on “Argos” he keeps it short, sweet, and punky. “Fight to Kill” approaches Sugar in its electric intensity, “Crazy Cat Lady” is lyrically honest to a brutal extent, and “Lifetime” closes the album with ambient/electronic experimentation and atmospherics. Life and Times is tailor made for longtime fans and does not disappoint.

—Scott Alisoglu
04.10.09

Based on its title, it's tempting to think of Life and Times as an autobiography, especially when armed with the knowledge that Bob Mould recorded this album while writing his actual autobiography (scheduled to hit stores in 2010). It's tempting, but not quite accurate, as this is less an orderly journey through the past than memories refracted through the prism of the present. Life and Times bears the unmistakable stamp of being latter-day Mould in how he consolidates his strengths, not embracing his electronica but not running away from it either, in how his writing has a casual, disarming frankness, particularly when recounting last night's sex on "Bad Blood Better." Still, there's no denying the reflective nature of Life and Times, how the past feeds the present in its subject and sounds, a description which suggests that this is a fragile, folky album, which isn't so -- this is Mould's purest pop since Sugar, its ballads surging with grace and its muscular songs built on skyscraper hooks. As immediate as Life and Times isn't nearly as diamond-hard as Copper Blue, which is a great part of its appeal: it flows naturally, the music never pushes, it settles, comfortable in its own skin. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide