"Our next band was a founding member of the iconic '80s rock 'n' roll band Hüsker Dü." So starts David Letterman in the clip from last night's episode of "The Late Show" with Bob Mould as the musical guest. Dave proceeds to goof off on the Hüskers name for a short bit before the ex-Twin Cities rocker and his tight new trio no-nonsenselessly tear through "The Descent," the first single from Mould's monstrous new album, "Silver Age."

Issued yesterday on Merge Records, the new record was recorded entirely with the band you see on the show (ex-Verbow leader Jason Narducy on bass and Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster). You can see in the four-minute clip what those of us who attended the Merge label party at South by Southwest in March saw: Mould really enjoys playing with these guys, and vice-versa. In an interview last week, he confirmed as much:

"We just spent two weeks in Europe playing "Copper Blue,' " Mould said, referring to his 1992 album with Sugar, which he will perform in its entirety next weekend at First Avenue. "A lot of people came up afterward and said, 'We loved Sugar, but this band sounds amazing and so fresh.' I was like, "Yeah, that's what I thought, too," not to say that at the expense of the other band, but it feels fresh with these guys.

Letterman seems to agree as he walks over and shakes their hands at the end of the clip: "That's all you want right there," he raves. "No more phone calls. That's rock 'n' roll."