Already buzzing off a hefty touring schedule,HUSKER DU were back at Nicollet Studios by the spring of 1985 to piece together "New Day Rising"s follow up in bursts up to around Mid-June.
The record that finally emerged,"Flip Your Wig", became the band's SST swansong as they would shortly be signing for Warner Brothers after the usual industry headhunting period.
Being finicky, the slightly dense, murky sound (especially as a headphone listen) with Hart's drums too low in the mix, slightly mars what could otherwise be parhaps the band's finest. Possibly a little extraneous shaving would've helped, too, certainly the jettisoning of the daft "Baby Song" and the woefully overwrought "The Wit And The Wisdom."
None of which stops "Flip Your Wig" from being bloody awesome anyway. Mould's songwriting skills, especially, are exemplary, with the ace "Makes No Sense At All","Hate Paper Doll" and "Games" all pushing just the right popcore buttons. Hart's no slouch, either, with "Flexible Flyer" and the frantic "Every Everything" muscling their way into our affections. Check early 1990s Fire Records' band THE HARBOUR KINGS' catalogue for a more considered, but still cool version of "Every Everything" if you get the chance.
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So, with HUSKER DU at their independent peak, it was time to dive into the darker waters of the major label swimming ground. It would ultimately exact a terrible price from this none-more united Minneapolis trio, but initially reaped great artistic rewards as we'll soon see.
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