Hüsker Dü

Hüsker Dü was an American post-punk band that formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1979. Though never able to break through to the mainstream like contemporaries R.E.M, Hüsker Dü remain one of the great American post-punk bands of the ’80s that changed the direction of rock music. The albums they released between 1981 and 1987 proved remarkably influential; they provided the sonic blueprint for the roaring punk-pop hybrid that crossed over into the mainstream in the early ’90s. Not only did they shape the sound of the music, they shaped the way independent bands made the transition to the major labels; they showed other bands that it was possible to record uncompromising music on a major label without losing any integrity or creative control. From rivals the Replacements to Nirvana, nearly every major and minor band that appeared in the alternative underground in the late ’80s and ’90s owed a major debt to Hüsker Dü, whether they were aware of it or not.