RECORDS / Rock: Sugar - Copper Blue (Creation CRELP 129)

Bob Mould is a gifted craftsman who whittled away at the boundary between noise and melody when doing so was neither profitable nor popular. In 1988 his band, Husker Du, imploded, and Mould embarked on an increasingly dour solo career, while younger, less furrowed figures moved into the space he had made. When he returned this year with an arrestingly upbeat single, 'Changes', and a new, hardy power-trio, it was only fair that a mass audience awaited him. This brisk and heady set featuring Mould's drily heartfelt vocals and a dense wash of guitars will not disappoint them.