As if marking the 20th anniversary of his top-selling album weren't enough for one tour, Bob Mould just released one of his best records yet.
"I knew if I went out on the road only to play 'Copper Blue,' I was probably going to burst," said the blunt-speaking Twin Cities rock alum, who'll perform that disc in its entirety Saturday at First Avenue with his latest trio.
"Copper Blue," by Mould's short-lived power trio Sugar, is one of the most concise, ageless, perfect records of the alt-rock era of the early '90s -- a wave that Mould, 51, helped ripple to life with his St. Paul-reared group Hüsker Dü. The album, which sold about 300,000 in its original incarnation, earned a deluxe-edition reissue in July on big-time indie label Merge Records.
But that's not all he'll play Saturday night. Merge also just issued the new album "Silver Age," Mould's hardest-blasting effort since his Sugar days.
"I had these moments while making it where I was thinking, 'Am I copying myself here?'" Mould recounted. "Finally, I was like, 'Fuck it. Just go with it.'"
Mould has been in the spotlight since the release of last year's autobiography, "See a Little Light: The Trail of Rage & Melody," in which he opened up about his anger issues, his coming out as a gay man and the many facets of his 33-year music career.
He still had plenty to talk about last month in a phone interview from Las Vegas.
On the factors that led to "Silver Age": "It was pretty much 1, 2 and 3: I spent a year on the book and was tired of editing every word; I knew the 'Copper Blue' stuff was coming, and then hanging out with the Foo [Fighters] guys made some kind of an impression. After the tribute [concert for Mould last fall] in L.A., I had this burst of songs. That was in December, and then Jason [Narducy], Jon [Wurster] and I got together January 2nd. It was just the three of us in a room together in San Francisco, learning the songs, doing takes until it felt right. You can hear that on the record."
