Aquarium Drunkard Presents: Workbook Revisited
I used to own Bob Mould's Workbook on CD; a couple of times actually, or maybe the first time, my introduction, was via a dubbed cassette from a friend. Yeah, that’s more likely. Anyway, until recently I hadn’t heard Workbook in years. Years. The album has been reissued and slowly we’ve begun to get reacquainted. But on different terms—as I’m no longer a teenager listening in my car on the way to high school in the mornings. Relationships, no matter the kind, change and are always in flux. This is just as true for albums.
Immediate (second) impression: what an incredibly heavy album. And I don’t just mean the lyrical portion, which is obvious, but the underlying tone itself: the string arrangements, the acoustic guitars, the haunting vocal overdubs, Mould’s tortured howls—everything. To be completely honest, revisiting this album has been a fairly maudlin experience. It hones in and touches that sweet spot residing somewhere between nostalgia and outright sadness. It’s heartbreak, it’s a quarter after midnight with time on your hands, it’s the last drag. But in the best way. Not that Workbook has ever been a cheerful listen, but the album bears an emotional weight to it now that I was not capable of grasping at 16 or 17—or possibly even in my early twenties for that matter.
If given 20 minutes to freely interview Mould (about anything) it is the backstory of this album, not that of Hüsker Dü or Sugar, that I would immediately delve into. And if given the same opportunity fifteen years ago? I’m pretty sure all I would have wanted to discuss was he and Grant Hart’s songwriting relationship around the making of Candy Apple Grey/Warehouse; oh, and maybe the Beaster ep. But as I said, relationships, no matter the kind, change.
ABOUT AQUARIUM DRUNKARD
Based in Los Angeles, Justin Gage is the founder of the long-running, eclectic music blog Aquarium Drunkard. In addition to the blog you can catch his weekly radio show, Fridays, on SIRIUS XMU satellite radio -- noon-2pm EST.
Gage is also the founder of Autumn Tone Records and works as a music consultant and supervisor.