Force of Will

IT'S REALLY QUITE IRONIC that some of the hardest, most uncompromising music in the current rock scene should also be one of the most conservative. Like its fellow hardcore bands--Black Flag and Minor Threat--Husker Du, on its new EP, Metal Circus, adopts a stance which firmly opposes the revolutionary ideals of the punk movement. This stance--which is basically, think for yourself, without paying attention to all the unrealistic talk of violent and anarchic revolutions--might seem a strange message from a band whose music appears so angry and nihilistic. The band's commitment and sincerity, however, is so genuine that Husker Du's music reinforces their emotionally felt message.

Of course, hardcore is not the first movement in rock whose message broke away from the musical tradition it perpetuated. The punk movement, for instance, was essentially a backlash against the free love and peace spirit of the hippie era. Yet, the punks use a traditional rock format (albeit in a much harsher, angrier form than that of the 60s) as their instrument in fighting the rock music of the 60s and 70s. The punk movement may have started as a rebellion against the falseness of the decaying ideas of the hippie revolution. But by the 80s, the slashed haircuts, the bondage imagery, and the talk of anarchy was no more realistic and no less pretentious than the long hair, the beads, and the talk of free love and revolution that epitomized the 60s. Like much of the rock music in the early 70s which merely copied the styles developed in the 60s, much of the punk and new wave of today has copied the aesthetic look, the easy cynicism, and the fast energy of the original punk movement, without retaining any of the original inspiration.

Husker Du, and its fellow hardcore bands, however, have attempted to break away from the inflammatory, anarchic message inherent in much of today's punk and new wave music. In a sense, Husker Du's statement. "You want to change the world by breaking rules and laws/People don't do things like that/in the real world at all" can be interpreted as a condemnation of the message of other recent bands.

Nevertheless, while Husker Du might oppose the punk ethos, they use a very similar musical style. With Bob Mould's blazing, distorted guitar, and his hoarse, throaty voice angrily trying to shout its way through the dense wall of sound, this sounds like a souped-up har her hybrid of punk and heavy metal. Thus, just as the punk movement revamped the rock of the 60s and early 70s while taking their inspiration from the spare, fast style form 50s rock'n roll. Husker Du in turn revamp the punk format deriving their inspiration from some of the heavy metal of the 70s.

ALTHOUGH THIS VIOLENT, angry music doesn't seem to "fit in" with Husker Du's message, the band not only recognizes this, but also deliberately highlights this contradiction on Metal Circus. Thus, it is no mistake that the lines "I don't rape and I don't pillage other people's lives" appear on the same album alongside the line "I think I'll just rape you and kill you instead." Instead of attempting to hide this dichotomy. Du deliberately exposes it as something which both the band and its listeners must face.

This contradiction also serves to highlight Husker Du's major message: don't trust or look for answers in any music (even in Metal Circus), but rather look within yourself. For instance, in the first song on the EP, Mould states, "You can sing any song you want but you're still the same," thus denying the idea that music can or should after people's lives. In fact, this song reveals Husker Du's message and ideals more clearly than any other on the album. Behind the fast, clean guitar line which draws the listener into the album and the waves of distortion built around it, Mould rasps out angry, intelligent lyrics which forcefully attack the violent and destructive rhetoric of punk rockers. With lines like "People don't do things like that in the real world at all," this song ultimately comes across as a powerful, heartfelt plea for sanity.

In direct contrast to the sanity of "Real World" is the psychotic "Diane," Beginning as a love song with the narrator picking up a young girl, the song brings in--almost like a throwaway or sick joke--the horribly nasty line, "But I think I'll just rape you and kill you instead," and then proceeds into a strangely impassioned chorus. To pass off this unsettling song as a sick joke is too easy, and moreover, it would belie the fundamental message of the rest of the album. Rather, this song is both a frightening and frightened recognition of the violence lurking not just within the music and message of punk, but also within Husker Du's reaction to punk.

These two songs, with their extremely different viewpoints, lead the EP of uniformly intelligent, committed, and powerful songs. "Deadly Skies" and "It's not Funny Anymore" are the two other overtly political songs, and while their tone, at times, becomes a little too fatalistic, the sheer energy of the music and the passion of the vocals make the songs much more than just nihilistic poses. Mould might say "I like to protest, but I'm not sure what it's for" or "It doesn't matter anyway," but the listener never gets the feeling that one should just give up in despair, Rather, Husker Du believes that one should "find out who you really are" without paying attention to the people and incidents around you.

This encouraging message is made even more apparent in songs like "Lifeline" and "First of the Last Calls," both of which deal with personal struggles. Both of these songs, whether in dealing explicitly with the problem of alcoholism or just facing general insecurities, advocate the same solution: the building of inner fortitude and strength.

And, in a sense, this entire album represents what one can achieve through force of will. Husker Du's lyrics may be didactic, but they never become too preachy, too cliche, or too trite. And even though the band may present a harsh, discordant, and even at times bitter vision of life, they never resort to easy cynicism or nihilism. Thorough sheer commitment, and abrasive intensity this group might help to point the stagnant rock of the present in a direction that will become as rich and exciting as the punk movement from which it has broken away.