December 11, 2017

Hüsker Dü’s Glorious Racket

The band’s early days are chronicled on three head-spinning discs.

Album Review

Hüsker Dü
Savage Young Dü
Numero Group

Big Hassle

Along with R.E.M., the Replacements and a host of less-celebrated acts, the St. Paul, Minn. trio Hüsker Dü revitalized the concept of the American Rock’n’Roll band in the ‘80s. Mixing the furious noise of punk and metal with ringing melodies, Bob Mould (guitar, vocals), Greg Norton (bass) and Grant Hart (drums, vocals) made a glorious racket that slowly became more polished over time, resulting in such classic albums as 1984’s Zen Arcade and 1986’s Candy Apple Grey. To see how they got there, check out the essential Savage Young Dü, which chronicles the group’s early days on three head-spinning discs. Ranging from 1979 shows to demos to the Hüskers’ first proper album, released in early ’83, this incendiary set collects 69 tracks, 47 of them previously unreleased. It’s not always pretty—in fact, it’s never pretty—but it is relentlessly great, and the rough sound of the some of the live performances only adds to the sense of excitement.

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate