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Hüsker Dü: Candy Apple Grey (Warner Bros.)

Richard C. Walls, Creem, August 1986

ALAS, ANOTHER cult band, after years of honest toil on a small but brave label, has debuted on one of those big, unsavory, decadent major labels. What can it all mean? Well, for one thing, having actually spotted this record hovering tentatively in the lower rungs of at least one chart, it means that more people are going to get to hear this hardcore-and-much-more trio from Minneapolis (not that there haven't been a lot of chances — the guys have been so prolific lately that I don't even wanna talk about it, except to say that this is their third release in just over a year, and seekers should be advised that Zen Arcade is their most full-of-surprises album, and New Day Rising their toughest). And they've made the label jump with only the smallest of changes, changes so non-ostentatious as to seem evolutionary, you know, like they were going to sound like this even if they stayed on that noble little label (which, by the way, was SST).

Total word count of piece: 592

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