Bob Mould Drones Techno-esque Solo Album

Two Stars

Before I begin, I should disclose that I know next to nothing about the electronica/techno music that Bob Mould uses religiously on his new album, Modulate.

That being said, perhaps it's not a surprise that I found the best parts of this album to be those where the computer-generated elements are kept to a minimum. Otherwise, it becomes difficult to describe what type of music Mould was aiming to achieve.

Mould's sixth album ranges wildly from pure techno to hard-core rock to something that sounds like U2 on speed. But pretty much all of his songs suffer from the same long-winded malaise.

Modulate starts out with that pure techno sound, and it's pretty uninspired techno at that. Like I said, I'm not a connoisseur, but this unimaginative, repetitive sludge almost certainly wouldn't cut muster with those in the know.

Who really wants to hear shrieking car alarms in their music?

But after the fourth track, things start to pick up. He begins to mix in some interesting rock elements, including some 1980s-sounding riffs in the nostalgic track, "Lost Zoloft."

This juncture is where the album's strongest points lie. When Mould can effectively mix a balanced symbiosis between his electronic and rock 'n' roll elements, he has the right amount of energy to pull off some bouncy, fun songs.

Unfortunately, only a few tracks benefit from this symbiotic relationship. Throughout most of the album, the mix goes too far off in either direction. As the album goes on, Mould tries to bring more hard-rock elements in, but his imitations miserably fail in comparison to the standards of that genre.

Much of this failure is a result of Mould's paltry voice. There's a reason why he backs himself up with such overpowering sounds -- his voice isn't nearly strong enough to carry a song by himself.

To add insult to injury, nearly every track could end a solid minute before it does. "Without?" is the only one that thankfully ends before it devolves into an static mess of noise. The rest just don't know how to gracefully end before their welcome is overstayed.

This unnecessary noise does nothing to further define the aims of this album. Perhaps Mould should more solidly define his career goals before his own welcome is overstayed.