Bob Mould – Patch The Sky – Album Review by Killian Laher

Bob Mould’s twelfth solo album arrives less than two years after his last, 2014’s Beauty & Ruin. That album was an unexpected delight, Mould as far from ‘phoning-it-in’ as it’s possible to get, belting out hard-riffing, heavy pop. Patch the Sky opens with the mid-tempo, anthemic Voices In My Head, sounding like classic Mould in either his Sugar or solo modes, solid riffs backed up ably by his trusted rhythm section, Jason Narducy on bass and Jon Wurster on drums. Immediately following this The End of Things barrels through at breakneck speed as Mould muses rapidly about “the end of everything”. You Say You, Pray For Rain and the punchy Daddy’s Favorite (sic) rock as fast and as hard as this one, so clearly Mould is not about to fade away any time soon.

Many of the more mid-paced tracks like Hold On, Lucifer and Gold, and Black Confetti, while highly melodic, pack one hell of a wallop, a bit like Foo Fighters with, dare I say it, balls? Certainly more growl than Grohl anyway. Less intense tracks like Losing Sleep and moody closer Monument allow you to take a breather while still coming across as what they are, intelligent guitar-pop delivered with genuine passion.

The one criticism of the album is there is no standout track, no centrepiece. But it’s consistently strong across its twelve tracks. It mightn’t convert anyone, but for those already signed up, this won’t disappoint.

Tracklist –

1. Voices In My Head
2. The End of Things
3. Hold On
4. You Say You
5. Losing Sleep
6. Pray For Rain
7. Lucifer and Gold
8. Daddy’s Favorite
9. Hands Are Tied
10. Black Confetti
11. Losing Time
12. Monument

Voices In My Head: