Flip Your Wig

Flip Your Wig
Studio album by Hüsker Dü
Released September 1985
Recorded March–June 1985
Genre Alternative rock, punk rock
Length 40:09
Label SST
Producer Bob Mould and Grant Hart
Hüsker Dü chronology

New Day Rising
(1985)
Flip Your Wig
(1985)
Candy Apple Grey
(1986)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Rolling Stone [2]
Robert Christgau A−[3]
Spin [4]

Flip Your Wig is the fourth album by the American punk rock band, Hüsker Dü. It was the band's first self-produced album, and its last release on SST Records. Bob Mould has stated that he views Flip Your Wig as "the best album Hüsker Dü ever did."[5] The band spent more time on the recording process than on their previous albums,[6] and upon release it became the best-selling record on SST up to that point.[7]

Background

By the time the album was released in 1985, Hüsker Dü had signed a record deal with the major-label Warner Music Group,[8] who were keen to release the album themselves.[9] However, out of loyalty, and because of SST's appointment of new promotions manager Ray Farrell, the album was given to SST.[10][11] The title track and "Keep Hanging On" became staples of the band's live shows, while power pop anthem "Makes No Sense at All" was featured in a music video; this song was sometimes performed by Mould in his 1990s solo career.

"Makes No Sense at All" was released as a single, with "Love Is All Around" (the theme song of the Mary Tyler Moore Show) on the b-side. The "Makes No Sense at All" video includes both songs, back-to-back.[12]

Flip Your Wig, like Hüsker Dü's other SST releases, has never been remastered for improved sound on compact disc.

Critical reception

Trouser Press describes the album as "Positively brilliant — fourteen unforgettable pop tunes played like armageddon were nigh",[13] while AllMusic's review says "Flip Your Wig would be a remarkable record on its own terms, but the fact that it followed New Day Rising by a matter of months and Zen Arcade by just over a year is simply astonishing."[14]

Track listing

Side one
  1. "Flip Your Wig" (Bob Mould) – 2:33
  2. "Every Everything" (Grant Hart) – 1:56
  3. "Makes No Sense at All" (Mould) – 2:43
  4. "Hate Paper Doll" (Mould) – 1:52
  5. "Green Eyes" (Hart) – 2:58
  6. "Divide and Conquer" (Mould) – 3:42
  7. "Games" (Mould) – 4:06
Side two
  1. "Find Me" (Mould) – 4:05
  2. "The Baby Song" (Hart) – 0:46
  3. "Flexible Flyer" (Hart) – 3:01
  4. "Private Plane" (Mould) – 3:17
  5. "Keep Hanging On" (Hart) – 3:15
  6. "The Wit and the Wisdom" (Mould) – 3:41
  7. "Don't Know Yet" (Mould) – 2:14

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1985) Peak
position
UK Indie Chart[15] 1

References

  1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "allmusic ((( Flip Your Wig > Review )))". Allmusic. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  2. Brackett, Nathan. "Hüsker Dü". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. November 2004. pg. 398, cited March 18, 2010
  3. Christgau, Robert. "Hüsker Dü". robertchristgau.com, Retrieved on March 18, 2010.
  4. Weisbard, Eric. "Hüsker Dü". Spin Alternative Record Guide. October 1995. p.187
  5. Mould, Bob & Azerrad, Michael. See a Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody. Little Brown and Company, 2011. ISBN 0-316-04508-X, p. 103
  6. Earles, Andrew (2010). Husker Du: The Story of the Noise-Pop Pioneers Who Launched Modern Rock. p.166: Voyageur Press. ASIN B004NNUXYI.
  7. Earles 2010, p. 165.
  8. Earles 2010, p. 177.
  9. Mould, Bob (2011). See A Little Light The Trail Of Rage And Melody. p.109: Little, Brown and Co. ISBN 978-0-316-04508-7.
  10. Earles 2010, p. 178.
  11. Mould 2011, p. 110.
  12. "Makes No Sense At All". Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  13. http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=husker_du
  14. http://www.allmusic.com/album/flip-your-wig-mw0000190362
  15. Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980-1989. Cherry Red Books. Retrieved September 5, 2014.