After two initial solo albums, Bob Mould returned to a full trio format with Sugar, this time as core bandleader, recruiting bassist David Barbe and drummer Malcolm Travis and looking to make a bang – and they did, in spades. Copper Blue found Mould in fine yearning voice and with songs that readily recalled the catchy roar and connection both from the Hüsker Dü years, as easily heard on the Pixies-nodding “A Good Idea” and the one-two lyrical gut punches of the harrowing “The Slim” and the upbeat song/fraught words of “If I Can’t Change Your Mind.”

Bob Mould entered the third phase of his career by forming a new band and blowing all expectations into the cosmos. Coming after Hüsker Dü and a couple of solid solo records, Copper Blue feels like a proper reintroduction to Mould’s brand of massive hooks and cutting lyrics. The trio of Bob, bassist David Barbe, and drummer Malcolm Travis barrels through the ten intimately cavernous tunes herein; the bouncy “A Good Idea,” the queer-coded kiss-offs of “The Act We Act” and the jangly “If I Can’t Change Your Mind,” and stadium-ready “Hoover Dam” are some of the tightest pop hooks of the 90’s, delivered with the force of a heavy metal record. A classic.