New Day Rising
Husker Du
The title is announced rather than approached — the band hits the opening riff and it feels like a door flying open. Bob Mould's guitar is a wall of distortion but not a murky one; there's a brightness to it, almost euphoric, that counteracts the heaviness. The tempo is fast but the song doesn't feel rushed because the melodic structure underneath the noise is actually quite strong, something you can hold onto even as the volume tries to knock you over. Grant Hart's drumming is one of the great underrated performances in American punk — he's playing with the force of hardcore but the sense of a drummer who listens, who responds, who understands dynamics. Mould's voice is rough and hoarse, shouted more than sung, but the emotional register is peculiarly hopeful rather than angry. The lyrical core is almost visionary, an announcement that something new is possible, that the worn-out structures of the present can be left behind. Hüsker Dü in 1985 were making hardcore that secretly contained pop music, all that melody compressed under distortion until it threatened to burst through. This is the moment it came closest to bursting. It sounds like the first genuinely warm day of spring after a punishing winter — you want to play it loud with the windows down, going somewhere you've never been.
very fast
1980s
bright, dense, euphoric
Minneapolis American indie and hardcore scene, 1985
Hardcore Punk, Indie Rock. Melodic Hardcore. euphoric, hopeful. Bursts open immediately with visionary energy and sustains a feeling of genuine optimism without irony through to the end.. energy 9. very fast. danceability 4. valence 8. vocals: hoarse shouted male, rough but melodically purposeful, urgent. production: bright wall of distortion, melodic compression, powerful responsive drumming. texture: bright, dense, euphoric. acousticness 1. era: 1980s. Minneapolis American indie and hardcore scene, 1985. Loud with the windows down on the first genuinely warm day after a long winter, going somewhere new.