POP MUSIC REVIEW : Bob Mould Relentlessly Intense in Solo Acoustic Set

Bob Mould became an underground rock hero leading the roaring punk band Husker Du, and is now doing well with his hard-rocking band Sugar, but he’s no stranger to playing it solo and acoustic--at one low point in his career, he revitalized himself by touring the world as a post-punk troubadour.

On Thursday at the Variety Arts Theatre, Mould planted himself in a chair and powered through an hour-plus of songs, hammering his 12-string guitar with a ferocity and speed that suggested Richie Havens crossed with Pete Townshend.

With his nearly shaved head and loose-fitting white T-shirt, Mould looked like some kind of bodhisattva, and his songs of emotional tumult and resolve clearly generated an intense bond with the audience. The only drawback was that the relentlessness of his attack tended to become wearying and monochromatic--the rare single-note passages came as startling contrasts.

Second-billed Vic Chesnutt is a dead-opposite to Mould, an introspective eccentric and an ornery original who seems one small step from being a bus-bench mumbler. Backed by an understated drums-bass team, he was too intimate and understated for the large theater, but the audience, to its credit, dug in and seemed to get it. Chesnutt also plays at McCabe’s tonight.