GRANT HART

Conventional wisdom always seems to list Bob Mould as the main Dü Dude, but I stand by my claim for Grant Hart supremacy in the post-Dü world.  His solo work was more varied and nuanced than Mould’s, his songs were much hookier, and his two albums with Nova Mob beat Mould’s two Sugar albums hands down (granted, Copper Blue is awesome, but it still gets a little tedious when I listen to it all in one sitting).

Everything he released after HD was too easily overlooked due to its tiny indy-label status (he never got bigger than SST, I don't believe), and his second Nova Mob was insanely underrated by all the dipshit critics who, that same year, heaped praise on Sugar’s meh FU:EL.

But fuck, man – Hüsker Dü.  They were one of the handful of bands that kept me alive during high school.  They will always have my gratitude for that.