Hüsker Dü, behind this Norwegian-sounding name, hides one of the most influential musical formations of the last century in terms of alternative and independent rock. Often overlooked in favour of more popular bands, the Minnesota-based trio has, however, worked tirelessly during its nine-year existence to shape the sound and attitude of a genre that was then going around in circles. Coming from the hardest hardcore scene, constantly pushing the barriers of speed and energy, the band has nevertheless gradually evolved and managed to extricate itself from its shell as a simple minimalist punk band to become one of the major cornerstones of a whole section of modern music. It is with the release in 1984 of their monumental "Zen Arcade" on the legendary label SST that a new musical trend was truly born. This new sound would forever change the face of the American musical landscape.
Awakening the spirit of contradiction
It is one of those works whose meaning escapes its author to become a source of dissension in an environment already more than codified. While Hardcore-Punk aimed at breathing new life into a movement that was intended to be a self-destructive and ephemeral revolt, it is clear that all the productions of this era follow one another. The anti-conformism spirit advocated by the tenors of the genre has become nothing more than a sweet illusion, quickly giving way to a latent mimicry that is particularly tiring for its audience. And yet, in the midst of this anarchic cacophony, a handful of artists who had made their first steps in this highly saturated mess were able to glimpse a hidden potential as yet unexplored. Hüsker Dü decided to follow suit and venture into a new playground for all kinds of sound fantasies.
How to bring originality to a style that seems to have nothing left to say ? To this question, Grant Hart, Bob Mould and Greg Norton deliver a materialized answer in the form of a conceptual double album. In a format that was unheard of, to say the least, in a scene that was then limited to a few EPs lasting no more than fifteen minutes, Zen Arcade offers a new, more visceral and artistic vision of hardcore.
Keeping a dynamic rhythmic base as well as a distorted and very "fuzzy" line as far as the strings part is concerned, this album seems at first sight to sound like a traditional punk production. However, the first track "Something I learned today" is just a decoy that will have no other role than to create a feeling of comfort for its audience. For from this primitive minimalism will come afterwards a succession of complexity in the compositions.
Bringing a notion of melodies, structures and experimentations based on reverbs, loops or even harmonic vocals, Zen Arcade will surprise so much that it will be considered as an album qualified as something else than hardcore for the purists of the genre. This protest trademark, the result of a mix of furious rock associated with an experimental side, flirts with the limits of avant-garde music. Hüsker Dü has signed a major work that will leave its mark on the history of undergound rock.
A source of inspiration for a whole generation of emerging musicians, Zen Arcade can pride itself on having not only laid the foundations of modern independent rock, but also on having opened the way to the sub-genre that is melodic hardcore, from which a large number of prestigious bands claiming this heritage will emerge. We can mention the Pixies, Dinosaur JR, Nirvana, Therapy, Lemonheads for the indie part and Squirel Bait, Moving Targets and many others for the melodic punk part. With all due respect to Fat Mike, it wasn't Bad Religion who proposed this new path...