Sometimes I stumble across an artist that is inexplicably not part of my collection. Today's case in point: Sugar. I was making a 1990s mix to listen to while driving through the backroads of New York and Pennsylvania. My car has satellite and I like the Lithium channel but there is only so much Offspring and Red Hot Chili Peppers (neither band appears in my collection, except for maybe a song or two from RockBand) I can take an hour. So I made a mix that would what I would program Lithium with. Let's just say it has a LOT more power pop than Lithium would ever have the guts to play.
I was looking through Pitchfork's best of the 1990s lists looking for more esoteric stuff. There I was reminded of Bob Mould's post Hüsker Dü band Sugar. I remember an old friend from work (Nathan) was big on Bob Mould and made me play Sugar every now and then. For whatever reason it didn't sink in. Now, I am listening to Copper Blue and wondering why in the hell, when I was almost exclusively in my power pop phase, I didn't go nuts over "The Act We Act." What's that? Here:
Frak me, what a great tune. And the rest of the album sounds like that. Here's a line I really wish I wrote: "Hours slipping by as you watch/The worlds collide/And now you're nothing more/Than another passer-by." Then again "Helpless" might be a better song. Whatever.
I think my missing out was due to two things primarily: a) I only had so much money in the early 90s and couldn't buy EVERYTHING; and b) I had already fallen into The Replacements camp. Let me talk about that second one because it's infinitely more interesting.
Hüsker Dü and The Replacements were two of the important bands to come out of Minneapolis in the 1980s. Both did the ragged pop-punk thing and had modest success. Some of the guys I was working with at the time were Mats fans so being the impressionable lad I was I became a Mats fan.
Both bands eventually wore themselves out when the leaders, for lack of a better term, went sober. In Hüsker Dü case the aforementioned Bob Mould and for the Mats Paul Westerberg. Mould did a couple records with Sugar before going solo and then ultimately becoming a DJ. Westerberg did the solo thing for two good albums, then a couple head-scratchers of album before falling off the face of the planet.
Listening to the first Sugar record and then the first Westerberg record (14 Songs) it's the Sugar record that holds up better, yet it's the Westerberg record I have had for nearly 20 years. The best song on that record is "World Class Fad." It's the only song on the record where Westerberg sounds like he means it: (of note the first 30 seconds has some odd German-dubbing...god bless the Internets!)
That's also a great song. But that's pretty much the only great song Westerberg did post-Mats. Sugar, and Mould on his first handful of solo records, do what I call "bring it." Westerberg seems like he ran out of ideas. Hey man, that happens. I love the story about him firing Brendan O'Brien during the making of his second record because if he "wanted to make a Replacements record I'd hire the fucking Replacements." HA that's awesome. But maybe making Replacements records is what he did best. I am not saying that an artist should stay in their comfort zone but that doesn't necessarily mean it will make for a great record. Bob Mould went from punk in Hüsker Dü to harsh power pop with Sugar to..well not much lately but he did do a couple songs with the Foo Fighters when I saw them in DC earlier in the year. Westerberg went from punk to power-pop in the Mats to the old-soul-world-wearied-guy kind of power pop to records that are almost unlistenable. I prefer Mould's arc better.
So good for me for finally realizing what a great band Sugar was. It only took me 20 years. But better late than never, right Nathan? I wonder what other gems are out there waiting for me to find them.
(On a happy note and according to his website Paul Westerberg seems to be quite happy being a dad and doing family stuff. Good for him!)
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