Bob Mould will roll out new album, ‘Sunshine Rock,’ via Merge Records on Feb. 8

Bob Mould in action during the "Beauty and Ruin" tour in Seattle. (Cat Rose photo)

By Andy

We never get enough of Bob Mould.

Last year at around this time, he cranked out a sterling, abrasive electric solo set at the Crocodile in Seattle and we traveled with him along his path of soaring tunes from Husker to now.

Mould basked in the high points and dealt with some flaws — just as we all do — when his pedals crashed on him for a bit, but he rammed them back into working order accompanied by a smile and a smirk and continued on his quest to knock out a memorable show. We all won that night.

Today, Mould has unleashed a new song, “Sunshine Rock,” from the album of the same name that will fall into our welcoming hands on Feb. 8 on Merge Records, three years after his last release, “Patch the Sky.”

In his recent blog post, Mould noted that he gets nervous whenever he sends a new song into the world. How will it be received by fans? That's coming from a veteran songwriter. I'm on board with this. My take is that if we're not nervous about what we're passionate about, we wouldn't be real or true to ourselves. It's an everyday thing for me and uplifting to know that it applies to us all. Keep creating!

According to a Merge press release, “Ever-evolving artist Bob Mould — whose face belongs on the Mount Rushmore of alternative music — decided to ‘write to the sunshine,’ as he describes it, not because he likes the current administration. It comes from a more personal place — a place found in Berlin, Germany, where he’s spent the majority of the last three years. Here Mould would draw inspiration from the new environments.”

Mould is, of course, joined again by powerhouse musicians Jon Wurster on drums and Jason Narducy on bass.

Here’s some snippets from his revived blog’s post today, his first since 2009:

“I hardly recognize this grave new world we live in. I’m a bit overwhelmed at the prospect of bringing all of you up to speed on 2009-2018 in one sitting, so I’ll jump ahead to the current headline…

“NEW ALBUM! I hope you’ve noticed there’s a new album on the way. It’s called Sunshine Rock and I am really thrilled about how it turned out. I started writing this over two years ago — thousands of words and hundreds of melodies which became dozens of songs, twelve of which you will be able to hear on February 8. But hey, you can hear the title track now!”

He adds at the end:

“The vinyl is in production. CDs will be ready soon. Music has been sent to all digital outposts. There’s no turning back. Rocket has left the launchpad.

“I’ll be your astronaut. You know we won’t get caught. We’re headed straight into the sunshine rock.”

Here’s a list of Mould’s tour dates for February-April of 2019:

02/14/19 Washington, DC— 9:30 Club w/ Titus Andronicus
02/15/19 Philadelphia, PA—Union Transfer w/ Titus Andronicus
02/16/19 Boston, MA—Paradise Rock Club
02/18/19 Toronto, ON Canada—Phoenix Concert Theatre
02/19/19 Pittsburgh, PA—Mr. Smalls
02/21/19 New York, NY—Brooklyn Steel w/ Titus Andronicus
02/22/19 Chicago, IL—Metro
02/23/19 Chicago, IL-Metro
02/25/19 Fort Collins, CO—Washington's
02/26/19 Denver, CO—Gothic Theatre
03/01/19 Los Angeles, CA—Teragram Ballroom
03/02/19 San Francisco, CA—The Fillmore
03/08/19 Hamburg Germany—Gruenspan
03/09/19 Berlin Germany—Columbia Theater
03/11/19 Düsseldorf Germany—Zakk
03/12/19 Leuven Belgium—Het Depot
03/14/19 London United Kingdom—Electric Ballroom
03/15/19 Leeds United Kingdom—Brudenell Social Club
03/16/19 Edinburgh United Kingdom—The Liquid Room
03/17/19 Manchester United Kingdom—Academy 2 Manchester
03/30/19 St. Paul, MN—Palace Theatre
03/31/19 St. Paul, MN—Turf Club
04/02/19 Dallas, TX—Granada
04/03/19 Austin, TX—Mohawk
04/05/19 Portland, OR—Wonder Ballroom
04/06/19 Seattle, WA—Neumos
04/07/19 Vancouver, BC Canada—Rickshaw Theatre