An EP of six songs, an album really in old money at nearly 31 minutes long, ‘Beaster’ was recorded during the same sessions that produced ‘Copper Blue’, the band’s exceptional noisepop debut from the previous year. It was keenly anticipated and heralded in the music press as that album’s darker, evil twin. I was musically salivating at the prospect and the cover drew me in further, tangled rope surrounded by bloodstains, it hinted at the serious intent of the subject matter. Aged 20 I was becoming highly serious (about music, anyway).
Bookended by two (slightly) gentler, shorter songs; one a dirgy guitar strum intro, the other a dirgy organ-led outro. ‘Dirgy’ in a good way, ‘Come Around’ and ‘Walk Away’ function narratively as the calm before and after the storm…and what a storm!
The other four central songs form a gripping suite and are up there with the finest of lead singer/guitarist/chief songwriter Bob Mould’s entire 40 year career. Musically there are strong echoes of his previous band, Husker Du, in the overdriven, heavy, corrosive guitar playing on display here. Commercially there is certainly a kinship with the prevalent grunge sound of the era. Lyrically we are in very bleak territory as Mould essays the gradual deterioration of a close personal relationship with his usual melancholy and dark, mordant wit.
Pete Shelley, the much missed legendary frontman with The Buzzcocks was a formative strong influence on the young Mould and his way with a lyric is reminiscent of Shelley’s at times, both sarcastic and acerbic. “Don’t try to hang me up again, don’t try to hang up on me, wait up” is a prime example from ‘Tilted’, a standout cut and the entry point to ‘Beaster’s narrative arc.
‘Judas Cradle’, the next track, musically bristles with coiled energy as the subject matter darkens further still. The title is taken from a medieval torture device and is Mould’s chosen symbol for the pain being suffered in (t)his caustic union. ‘JC Auto’ literally tightens the unfolding drama as Mould’s narcissistic bent is pulled into sharp focus as he likens his predicament to Jesus Christ’s on the cross – ” somebody nail my hands (I needed pain)”. Serious indeed!
Luckily and, as is usual with Mould, he counterbalances this dark, depressive material with his knack for an uplifting guitar line and adds layer upon layer of these, song after song. This is perhaps most apparent on the penultimate track, ‘Feeling Better’ which features a recurring, trumpeted short synth solo and a bass solo to broaden and brighten the musical palette. Lyrically some sort of catharsis has been achieved as the relationship has been ended before Mould hints at a possible reunion on the final song, ‘Walking Away’, a quasi-Beach Boys woozy organ lament. Perhaps it is better to be with someone than being alone if one reads (between) the lines.
Overall, an astonishing piece of work which I have revisited time and time again over the past 26 years. A stronger set of songs than even ‘Copper Blue’ and a high point in a career of many highs for Bob Mould.
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