Ask most US and UK rock and metal band members to cite their influences during the past few decades and, chances are, many would quote Hüsker Dü. And so they should. It still remains a mystery how messrs Mould, Hart and Norton slipped under the commercial radar some 25 to 30 years ago, but slip they did.

In the States they were revered, but hardly superstars - not many bands who release a live album containing an unstoppable maelstrom of blisteringly propulsive rage anthems is going to be on 'drive-time', quite frankly. That record was 'Land Speed Record', an apt and descriptive portent of the contents within. Fast forward through classic Hüsker Dü albums such as 'New Day Rising', 'Candy Apple Grey', then drugs and acrimony, before the final stunning chapter, 'Warehouse: Songs and Stories' in 1987. Bob Mould and Grant Hart blew themselves apart and went their separate solitary ways, with Hart delivering the turbulent SST label set, 'Intolerance' (with his standout song '2541' included), with better to come from his Nova Mob project. Mould, meanwhile, was happy to clean himself up as fast as possible.

The resultant cold turkey was a pair of major label albums, the triumphant 'Workbook' and muddy 'Black Sheets of Rain'. Both albums faired OK in the music press, but it was his next band project that gave Mould's legacy a degree of revisit and overdue attention. Creation Records signed his Sugar outfit in 1992 and unleashed one of THE rock albums of the '90s, 'Copper Blue'. Jam-packed with ten pop-rock songs that gave Nirvana and the Pixies a run for their money, life always sounded better when the hit, 'If I Can't Change Your Mind', crackled from the speakers. 'Changes', 'A Good Idea' and 'Helpless' can easily out-Foo the Foo Fighters (and you know how catchy their songs are) - in fact it's time for another Bob Mould resurgence, we think.

On Friday 1st June 2012, the Shepherd's Bush Empire will host a show from Mould (and friends) performing the 'Copper Blue' album by Sugar, as well as a stream of solo and Hüsker Dü material from the past three decades, in what promises to be an unforgettable night. We will have tickets on sale from this Friday (10th), priced at £25.