The Vast Dalton Conspiracy

Friday's Washington Post had an article by J. Freedom du Lac about Max and the Marginalized who were coming to DC to play a show on Saturday at the Velvet Lounge with Spencer Ackerman's band, the Surge. The Marginalized sound is glossed thusly:

Imagine Frank Rich fronting Ted Leo's group, or maybe a Matthew Yglesias mash-up with Husker Du, Bob Mould's old punk band whose logo Bernstein has tattooed on his left forearm.

Meanwhile, in case you had any doubts as to whether or not the media was a closed inbred elite, not only did I go to the same high school (and summer camp) as Frank Rich's kids, but it turns out that Max Bernstein, frontman of the Marginalized, went there as well. Meanwhile, here's some Husker Du:

Meanwhile, do we think that "Josh Freedom du Lac" is a real name? It's arguably the best name ever.

Comments

The amount of people who would enjoy reading this post can be counted on one hand, perhaps two.

Posted by JH | July 27, 2008 2:52 PM

I'm encouraged by the idea that there could be as many as nine other people who like Husker Du, liberal politics, policy wonkery, and commentary about the DC journalist clique.

Posted by joe from Lowell | July 27, 2008 2:59 PM

Dalton is for pussies.
Fieldston is where it's at.

Posted by bend | July 27, 2008 3:05 PM

The fact of the matter is that any post which includes a Husker Du video is worthwhile. The extent to which that band was the greatest indie band of the '80s (with the Pixies, Killdozer and Big Black as the only reasonable competition) cannot be overstated.

Posted by IP Guy | July 27, 2008 3:10 PM

It's not a good a name as Baskerville Holmes, the Memphis State star from the 80s.

Speaking of the 80s, I always loved this obvious Husker Du thing:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zFyy3XB_3Y4

Posted by Delicious Pundit | July 27, 2008 3:22 PM

One funny thing about Husker Du is that the bass player with the ultra gay mustache is the only one in the grouop who wasn't gay.

Posted by blah | July 27, 2008 3:25 PM

Dalton is for pussies.
Fieldston is where it's at.

I'm thinking prep schools as a whole occupy a fairly narrow band of the masculinity spectrum, with the possible exception of military schools for incorrigibles.

Husker Du are awesome, as are their most dominant influence, the Buzzcocks.

Posted by kth | July 27, 2008 3:38 PM

In the future, where we may be
Thoughts will come of thee
Inspiring us to carry on to vic-tor-y

Posted by Winnebagan | July 27, 2008 3:39 PM

The fact of the matter is that any post which includes a Husker Du video is worthwhile

Damn right.

One funny thing about Husker Du is that the bass player with the ultra gay mustache is the only one in the group who wasn't gay.

Also damn right. Had I known that when I first got into them it would have blown my 8th-grade mind.

Watching that video as an old dude, I know realize that Greg Norton (bass player) was maybe the coolest of them all. Handlebar 'stache and cowboy hat in Minneapolis? Bad-ass.

Posted by hubcap | July 27, 2008 3:41 PM

Public school, bitch.

Posted by Freddie | July 27, 2008 4:04 PM

Yglesias: "Meanwhile, in case you had any doubts as to whether or not the media was a closed inbred elite"

nope, no doubts here.

Posted by raft | July 27, 2008 4:11 PM

A bit of a long wind-up there, but all worth it for the payoff: "Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely" is one of the best melodic hardcore punk songs ever. Indeed, the album its on -- Warehouse: Songs and Stories -- is an underrated 80s classic.

Posted by Daniel, Esq. | July 27, 2008 4:12 PM

Frank Rich's son also missed you by a year at Harvard. I only met him a couple times, but he was part of the lampoon and a very funny guy.

As for the number of people who will get this post, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a lot of overlap between the world of white hipsters obsessed with music and the world of people reading Matt's blog for the politics.

Plus, part of the appeal of a band like Husker Du, especially now, or even Ted Leo and the Pharmacists although they feel like they've lost some of their indie cred, is the idea that NOT MANY PEOPLE KNOW WHO THEY ARE SO YOU'RE SUPER COOL BECAUSE YOU DO. That causes people to assume bands are less widely known than they actually are, because we tend to make assumptions that make us feel better about ourselves, especially where music is concerned.

Posted by Cliff Mason | July 27, 2008 4:13 PM

Husker Du! This one's for you Matt as you leave for your new jerb.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_MtiVbkfUn4

Posted by joejoejoe | July 27, 2008 4:15 PM

It figures you'd post one of Hüsker Dü's major-label-era tunes. That shit is a weak simulacrum of their good stuff.

The extent to which that band was the greatest indie band of the '80s (with the Pixies, Killdozer and Big Black as the only reasonable competition) cannot be overstated.

The Minutemen were better than any of those. The Pixies were a sad joke.

Posted by snob | July 27, 2008 5:32 PM

I saw Husker Du at the old 9:30 Club -- at 930 F Street -- in 1986. Fantastic and really loud show -- I thought both my heart and ear drums were going to burst.

As a lawyer I have a soft spot for the song "Sorry Sometimes" since it has the line "serve me a subpoena baby."

Posted by Sir Charles | July 27, 2008 5:35 PM

Oy, do I feel old. Someone needs to explain what Husker Du is ("Bob Mould's old punk band")

Posted by Ronnie Pudding | July 27, 2008 5:36 PM

Fight bravely, Choate.
No Kiss Like a Hotchkiss.

There. I've exhausted my knowledge of prep schools.

Posted by Jeffrey Davis | July 27, 2008 5:42 PM

I don't give a crap about the rest of the post, but damn that was a nice Husker Du blast. Thanks.

Oy, do I feel old. Someone needs to explain what Husker Du is ("Bob Mould's old punk band")

What makes me feel old is that there are plenty of people out there who are unfamiliar with them for the opposite reason.

But hey, if you've ever watched the Daily Show, you've heard some Bob Mould--he wrote the superb theme music.

Posted by DrBB | July 27, 2008 5:49 PM

I know Josh personally (he was the music critic at the Sacramento Bee when I was the film critic at the Fresno Bee); yes, it's his real name.

Posted by John Scalzi | July 27, 2008 5:59 PM

Oy, do I feel old. Someone needs to explain what Husker Du is ("Bob Mould's old punk band")

In my own experience, most of the music-fan college students and twenty-somethings I encounter are pretty well versed in the history of punk rock. I'd guess that thanks to the Internet, Hüsker Dü (don't forget those umlauts) is better known now than they ever were in the past.

That doesn't stop vaguely clueless writers (or editors) from adding needless clarification when mentioning the band, though.

Posted by James Gary | July 27, 2008 5:59 PM

1. Husker Du

2. Sugar

3. Solo stuff.

Thoughts?

Posted by joe from Lowell | July 27, 2008 6:10 PM

The Orphans + book learnin' = Dalton

Posted by joejoejoe | July 27, 2008 6:11 PM

Sugar was pretty damn good. Not many people have been in two bands as good as Bob Mould. What Michael O'Hanlon is to wanking Bob Mould is to rocking.

Posted by joejoejoe | July 27, 2008 6:19 PM

Daniel, Esq.: Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely" is one of the best melodic hardcore punk songs ever. Indeed, the album its on -- Warehouse: Songs and Stories -- is an underrated 80s classic.

That album is an underrated classic, but DWKIYAL isn't on it. It's from Candy Apple Grey.

You lose 50,000 old-skooler punx point.

Posted by Jaybird | July 27, 2008 6:19 PM

I want to see and hear a THE TABLE + HUSKER DU mashup. Make it happen, dude.

Posted by Andrew | July 27, 2008 6:20 PM

In my own experience, most of the music-fan college students and twenty-somethings I encounter are pretty well versed in the history of punk rock.

I suppose a lot hinges on "music-fan." I'm actually a 50-something guy, but I have always been into this stuff. Occasionally played with Clint Conley of Mission of Burma when we were in HS together, as well as a lot of even lesser-known but musically significant guys from that time. So I guess I was going by the 20-somethings I work with. I love 'em dearly and respect the hell out of em, and some of them are quite very much into current indy-rock bands, which I appreciate them turning me on to if it's something I haven't heard before. But mention Burma, Yo La Tengo, the Pixies, Husker Du (not gonna go hunt up the html character code for umlauts just now), or god forbid Fugazi, and all you get is a blank stare.

FWIW. Not a hit on the whole generation, just a response to "too old to know who Husker Du is"--cuts the other way too, sometimes. Peace.

Posted by DrBB | July 27, 2008 6:37 PM

Snob,

You're right, and I feel like a total tool for not including the Minutemen. Double Nickles on the Dime and Three Way Tie for Last were amazing albums. I disagree with you about the Pixies, though -- in 1988 they were unbelievable.

I also should add Camper Van Beethoven if I want to be fair to the West Coast, and maybe Scratch Acid if I want to be fair to Texas.

Posted by IP Guy | July 27, 2008 7:19 PM

Jesus H. C... This is what finally gets me to post on this blog?? First, aptly named snob, as great as the Du was, the Pixies are at least as influential, and when you actually go back and listen, at least as good. But what truly moved me to post was that no one mentioned the Replacements. The Mats are right there with the MM, Du, and Pixies as both the best and most important bands of the 80s. None of those bands did as much to tie the Stooges and Ramones sound of the 70s to the alternative mainstream of the 90s. The 83-87 four album run from Hootenanny to Tim to Let It Be to Pleased to Meet Me is the strongest and most consistent of any of those bands (and given their personal habits, somewhat shocking)

Oh, and admitting that you're a prep school boy who didn't go there on scholarship is tantamount to admitting that your favorite Kennedy is William Kennedy Smith.

joe - Husker Du, Sugar, solo? I've taken to just renaming all of them in my collection as Bob Mould, makes it easier to get a good run of the best stuff, and you already know which is from when.

Posted by JSM | July 27, 2008 9:06 PM

"That album is an underrated classic, but DWKIYAL isn't on it. It's from Candy Apple Grey.

You lose 50,000 old-skooler punx point."

You're right! I have Candy Apple Grey, too, but that one -- I think -- got the praise it deserved. Warehouse, on the other hand, was wrongly viewed as a sell-out effort to move more toward the mainstream (it wasn't; Husker Du always understood a lot about melody, as both Mould and Hart's post-Husker solo discs proved).

Posted by Daniel, Esq. | July 27, 2008 9:27 PM

OBLIGATORY CORRS POST! Let's haaavvve a little CORRS!

(Que Joker laughter!)

The Corrs - So Young - The Goodwill Games
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4kAz_kJR2k

The Corrs - Breathless - The Goodwill Games
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O22U-DpdQHc&feature=related

The Corrs - Lunasa + Joy Of Life - Montreux Jazz Festival 2004
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Llv_0qooMYI

Posted by Richard Steven Hack | July 27, 2008 10:08 PM

And Ackerman swore you had no idea who Husker Du was!

Zen Arcade is the best HD record, with New Day Rising trailing closely behind. This thread has given short shrift to the other songwriter/singer of HD, Grant Hart (he wrote DWTKIYAL) and masterpieces like Pink Turns To Blue.

Posted by MaxMarginal | July 27, 2008 10:36 PM

And Ackerman swore you had no idea who Husker Du was!

Zen Arcade is the best HD record, with New Day Rising trailing closely behind. This thread has given short shrift to the other songwriter/singer of HD, Grant Hart (he wrote DWTKIYAL) and masterpieces like Pink Turns To Blue.

Posted by MaxMarginal | July 27, 2008 10:39 PM

"The 83-87 four album run from Hootenanny to Tim to Let It Be to Pleased to Meet Me is the strongest and most consistent of any of those bands"

A loss of 5,000 OSPP for getting the order wrong: Hootenanny, Let it Be, Tim, Please to Meet Me. :)

As much as I love those four albums, "Flip Your Wig", all by its lonesome, towers above the sum total of the 'Mats output.

Posted by danno | July 27, 2008 10:39 PM

It is indeed a real name. I had an interesting conversation about Paul Wall with Freedom du Lac this weekend. Cool dude, he is. With the name to match.

Posted by blackink12 | July 27, 2008 10:42 PM

It is indeed a real name. I had an interesting conversation about Paul Wall with Freedom du Lac this weekend. Cool dude, he is. With the name to match.

Posted by blackink12 | July 27, 2008 10:46 PM

It is indeed a real name. I had an interesting conversation about Paul Wall with Freedom du Lac this weekend. Cool dude, he is. With the name to match.

Posted by blackink12 | July 27, 2008 10:49 PM

And Ackerman swore you had no idea who Husker Du was!

Zen Arcade is the best HD record, with New Day Rising trailing closely behind. This thread has given short shrift to the other songwriter/singer of HD, Grant Hart (he wrote DWTKIYAL) and masterpieces like Pink Turns To Blue.

Posted by MaxMarginal | July 27, 2008 10:56 PM

It is indeed a real name. I had an interesting conversation about Paul Wall with Freedom du Lac this weekend. Cool dude, he is. With the name to match.

Posted by blackink12 | July 27, 2008 11:03 PM

You guys all realize Bob Mould wrote the Daily Show's theme song, right? So why not Jon Stewart fronting Husker Du? Or better yet, why not Bob Mould? He seems pretty liberal. (What about Bad Religion? They're pretty punk, and I'm sure the singer is smarter than Matt and Frank and all those other PhD-less non-professor pundits. Or the Dead Kennedy's. Or Black Flag, if all you have to do is be a singing pundit.)

Posted by Mr. Know It All | July 27, 2008 11:06 PM

Best. commenT. THREAD. EVER.

CANdy apple grey. - seconD PURCHASE EVER. SAME DAY AS "LIFE'S RICH PAGEANT". fuck yeah !!!

Posted by matthew | July 28, 2008 1:39 AM

Best. commenT. THREAD. EVER.

CANdy apple grey. - seconD PURCHASE EVER. SAME DAY AS "LIFE'S RICH PAGEANT". fuck yeah !!!

Posted by matthew | July 28, 2008 1:39 AM

And Ackerman swore you had no idea who Husker Du was!

Zen Arcade is the best HD record, with New Day Rising trailing closely behind. This thread has given short shrift to the other songwriter/singer of HD, Grant Hart (he wrote DWTKIYAL) and masterpieces like Pink Turns To Blue.

Posted by MaxMarginal | July 28, 2008 1:52 AM

That'd be great if "matthew" at 1:39 AM was Yglesias, PWD.

Posted by live | July 28, 2008 1:59 AM

After reading this post and deciding I had nothing to add, I took a walk with my wife and saw somebody had album cover paintings for sale in Kensington Market here in Toronto. The one that caught my eye? Zen Arcade.

I'm not quite sure what to make of that.

Posted by mwg | July 28, 2008 7:20 AM

It is indeed a real name. I had an interesting conversation about Paul Wall with Freedom du Lac this weekend. Cool dude, he is. With the name to match.

Posted by blackink12 | July 28, 2008 8:45 AM

It is indeed a real name. I had an interesting conversation about Paul Wall with Freedom du Lac this weekend. Cool dude, he is. With the name to match.

Posted by blackink12 | July 28, 2008 8:49 AM