(High Spot/Fuse Music Group)  

First release in 10 years from former Hüsker Dü drummer/songwriter 

In hardcore punk/alt rock giants Hüsker Dü, Grant Hart provided the earthier, poppier foil to Bob Mould’s more bitter, emotive compositions. Since that group’s acrimonious split in 1987, Hart has played in another band (Nova Mob) but his most celebrated post- Dü output is his solo work, especially 1989’s Intolerance. New album Hot Wax is Hart’s first since 1999’s Good News For Modern Man and finds him unashamedly delving into the psychedelic garage rock that he has hinted at as far back as New Day Rising’s The Girl Who Lives On Heaven Hill. Collaborators from Godspeed You! Black Emperor and A Silver Mt Zion play on this album, which opens with the frazzled pop of You’re The Reflection Of The Moon On The Water. This song could be an old Hart-penned Hüsker Dü tune, though with go-go dancing keyboards and snotty garage rock chords replacing Mould’s metallic spray of guitar noise. He’s in jaunty Kinks mode for Barbara, while he’s a rambling Elvis Costello-esque troubadour in Schoolbuses Are For Children. There’s a super lo-fi anthem Narcissus Narcissus with distorted electric guitar, xylophone and a rough ‘n ready male choir in its chorus, a buzzing Beach Boys cruise-along entitled California Zephyr and bug-eyed R&B in Sailor Jack. More than any previous Hart record, an amphetamine-meets-LSD ‘60s psychedelic punk vibe dominates Hot Wax. The results are far from definitive, but massively enjoyable.

***½

MATT THROWER

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