Here We Go Crazy

With many of us trying hard to find our bearings and the energy to take up another four year fight, Mould delivers a clear-eyed, but not despairing, song cycle that might help you get through the next four years.

The craft of Here We Go Crazy is superb, and Bob Mould is one of the very, very few musicians who came up in the 1980s hardcore scene and is still making powerful, relevant music in the 2020s. However, if he wanted to make an album that reflects the chaos of the culture that witnessed its creation, he may have hit the bullseye just a bit too close to the center.

It’s the sense of constant growth and accrued wisdom in these songs — the honest ambivalence mixed with desire mixed with dread mixed with hope — that makes them sink in.

Ultimately, the album aligns more closely with the 1990s power pop and alt rock of Sugar – and those influenced by them, such as The Thermals and Ted Leo – than the posthardcore of Hüsker Dü, but easily bests all of Mould’s previous releases that did the same. [Apr 2025, p.55]

All but unchanged aesthetically at 64, this alt-rock icon's rockin' on. [Apr 2025, p.78]

Even on songs which tap into more difficult territory, such as "When Your Heart Is Broken", he delivers it with such a seamless knack for melodic songcraft, that he even turns heartache into foot-stomping riffs and sing-along choruses. [Apr 2025, p.30]

There are moments here that can stand shoulder to shoulder with Mould’s considerable back catalogue – and while Here We Go Crazy won’t, in all probability, gain Mould any new fans, there’s plenty to satisfy anyone who’s come under his considerable spell over the last few decades.

The theme of loss crops up regularly in the lyrics, as well. Loss of what? You name it. Sleep. Youth. Innocence. Life. Looks. The list goes on. None of this is to say that Here We Go Crazy doesn’t still rock hard, however. [Mar 2025, p.