Hüsker Dü – Flip Your Wig

Husker Du predicts the connectivity of the internet global village news and the problems tracing theft over this network in the 4th and 5th verse of the song Divide and Conquer released in 1985. Bob Mould the Visionary.

The germination of the early sounds of a musical style to be released into mainstream consciousness 6 years later in Sept 1991. No wonder Dave Grohl is friends with Bob.

I hope someone can enlighten me on what makes this, or any other record, a quiex or quiex II release. Is there some info in the run out groove? It is to my knowledge that PVC is clear when it is created and that coloring is added at the manufacturers (or label or artists) will. From my reading carbon black was added to counter the static inducing effects of PVC. And, call me a cynic but as the 80's moved forward I saw more flimsy records that I could occasionally "see through" under a light. I have always chocked that up to a use of less carbon black. Maybe it was pricey at the time? As much as I loved SST in its heyday I have a hard time believing the label (as stuck for cash as they always seemed to be) would spend extra $$$ on some audiophile level release. And, no offense to anyone, but holding a record up to light and seeing through it is not a valid test of anything.

1980s SST - what a label, what an era for great music. I purchased this LP new the month of release after having heard the sprawling Zen Arcade, and was surprised to discover that Husker Du had sharpened their songcraft considerably, packing this tour de force with a whopping fourteen tracks. I think this album was actually released after New Day Rising, but they're both great albums. On side one, Grant Hart penned the obsequiously lovelorn "Every Everything" and the creepily obsessive "Green Eyes," with its sinister chord shift in the chorus, my favorite track on this side. Bob Mould's hit single "Makes No Sense at All" could have been written about Qanons, and his paranoid gentrification epic "Divide and Conquer" also resonates with timeliness. However, Mould dominates side one with closing track "Games," a blistering episode of self-examination that is as impressive lyrically as it is melodically. The Mould / Hart tag teaming continues on side two, but it is unfortunately marred by the awkward sonic experiment "The Baby Song," the only truly annoying song on Flip Your Wig (although the screeching guitar near the end of "The Wit and the Wisdom" comes close). "Find Me" and "Flexible Flyer" are solid tunes that are exceeded by Mould's masterful "Private Plane." Not to be outdone, Hart contributes what I consider to be the finest song on the album, the desperate rocker "Keep Hanging On," which shakes me to the core every time I hear it. The last two instrumental tracks are good reminders that this is an SST album, so anything is game. Hard to believe this songwriting team continued to get better and better as the years went by, and then everything came crashing down. Man, do I miss Husker Du.

My masterdisk copy has two side one labels " ' )... Addendum here: mine's still in shrink and there's a price sticker on the shrink and it's dated 9/85... I noticed somebody had updated the information on this with a possible release date of September 14th 1985...so... interesting the records from that particular record store are all dated on their price sticker... so definitely was on the market in September 1985.

SPOT’s not part of this production at all in case people think he was. Sounds really good on this vinyl. Actually achieved a big sound on this one.

If you hold up the record to the light, it should turn light translucent brown.

Purchased my copy only a year or so ago, at a shop in Toronto, Canada. I thought it might be a European pressing because it had an Italian Artists’ publishing rights society hologram sticker on the shrink wrap. Has anyone come across this? No Italian text anywhere on sleeve, everything else has the hallmarks of the standard US release. Everyone should own this album by the way, it’s my gateway album to recommend to the uninitiated.

DIVIDE AND CONQUER
pure magic!

In my mind, this is the quintessential Hüsker Dü album. The production is finally freed from the oppressively shit sound of Spot, and the songs have a depth and luster that is missing from earlier recordings. "The Baby Song" still irritates the shit out of me after 25+ years, but let it be said that the band had a sense of humor. The album is otherwise packed with maximum impact songs that meld their hardcore beginnings with a sixties aesthetic and an irrepressible melodicism. Highly recommended, if you can believe me. I've heard it said that the sound is lo-fi, but my vinyl copy, while heavy on the treble, sounds clear and rages like a motherfucker.