Bob Mould

Bob Mould is no stranger to shocking his audience with a radical new direction—after his years in Hüsker Dü, the loudest punk band in all creation, the quiet and folkie Workbook seemed dumbfounding, though now seen as a career high point. But that’s nothing compared to his recent jump into dancefloor techno and electronica, on first blush as bizarre and wrong as if Olivia Newton-John tried gangsta rap. But it’s no joke. Indeed, he’s approaching this with the same intense seriousness he brings to everything, even his stint as a pro-wrestling scriptwriter. “Modulate” and the more recent “Long Playing Grooves” move farther from Mould’s traditional melodic-guitar assault into computer-generated soundscapes, in a conscious effort to revitalize a songwriting approach he’s been pursuing for two decades. The response from critics and fans has been mixed, though certainly not hostile. There might be something worthwhile, even luminous, down this new path, but Mould clearly hasn’t yet found it. (Mould’s third 2002 release, Body of Song , will be more in the Workbook vein, but he’s also got a live disc recorded in 1998.) Live, he’s now casting his guitar over preprogrammed beats and loops, though antediluvian stuff like “Chartered Trips” and “I Apologize” still appear with comforting regularity on the set list. Woman’s Club, 870-8001, www.bobmould.com