Sugar - Classic Or Dud

http://onlineathens.com/stories/080310/uga_689844920.shtml

Barbe to lead UGA's music business program

By Ryan Blackburn - r✧✧✧.blackb✧✧✧@onlineath✧✧✧.c✧✧

Musician David Barbe has been chosen as interim director of the Music Business Program at the University of Georgia. He will start work immediately.

Barbe will replace Bruce Burch, the program’s founding co-director who last month took his top assistant and a fundraiser to start a similar program at Kennesaw State University.

Barbe will teach the two basic courses of the certificate program, called Music Business I and II, and he will administer the program, including hiring an assistant director, UGA administrators said Monday.

The responsibility for overseeing fundraising for the program will be absorbed through the college’s existing staff.

Barbe came to Athens in 1981 to attend UGA as a journalism student and on the side joined several bands, including Mercyland and Buzz Hungry. In the early 1990s, he co-founded the band Sugar, which recorded four albums.

In 1997, he teamed up with Andy LeMaster and Andy Baker to open Chase Park Transduction and currently serves as co-owner, president and chief engineer of the full-service recording studio.

Since opening Chase Park, Barbe has worked as a producer, engineer, writer and musician on hundreds of recording projects with artists like Drive-By Truckers, The Glands, Amy Ray, k.d. lang and R.E.M.

Jointly sponsored by the Terry College of Business and the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, the program prepares students for jobs in the music business — sometimes by giving music students a background in business, and other times by providing business students some basic music knowledge.

Nearly 90 students are enrolled in the 21-credit certificate program.

Barbe came highly recommended from past UGA faculty members and alumni and already had some knowledge of the program as a guest lecturer, said business school Dean Robert T. Sumichrast.

“Pretty quickly, we were able to determine that David Barbe was the best choice because of his existing association with our program,” Sumichrast said. “He had been a guest lecturer for us in the past, so we already knew some of the reaction from the students about his teaching style, and we already knew about his connection to the Athens music scene.”

The business college will conduct a national search for a permanent director, and Barbe will be among the candidates, Sumichrast said.

“I expect we will have a search in the spring semester, and we will name someone permanent director, and I think that David is certainly a very strong candidate for that,” he said.

Leaving for Kennesaw State with Burch are Keith Perissi, program director; and Heather Malcom, a development officer at UGA.

Burch’s resignation with UGA takes effect Aug. 9, but Barbe will begin work immediately, Sumichrast said.

Who wants to enroll for a semester or two?

Good for him. As long as it keeps him from singing shit like "Company Book", it's a great hire.

this band still rules! jamming copper blue for the first time in years. epic shit.

great record. I have a signed copy, my retirement nest egg!

Copper Blue is one of my favorite albums ever.

Beaster!!!!

hey bill magill, 'company book' was a clunker but i loved 'where diamonds are halos'

Copper Blue is one of my favorite albums ever.

― NYCNative, Friday, March 4, 2011 2:39 PM (21 minutes ago) Bookmark

Seconded.

"Copper Blue" and "Beaster" remain in many ways the apotheosis of what Mould was always after, even if his Husker stuff remains my sentimental favorite. But boy did Sugar burn bright and fast. Admittedly, I haven't listened to "File Under: Easy Listening" in eons but the time I saw them touring behind that album was less than inspiring.

Last time I interviewed him he noted that not only was "FU:EL" his commercial peak, that overwhelmingly he's now known as the guy that used to be in Sugar, with the legacy of HD fading away. Tragically, AFAIC, but Mould I believe has long made peace with his past and moved on, for better or for worse.

Besides might be the "b-sides, live and outtakes" album of the 90s (at least nothing comes to mind immediately) and I'll take it over FU:EL. Also having a hard time thinking of a better band started by a guy from a great band who had already become a full-time solo artist. Certainly beats Tin Machine.

Is FU:EL really his commercial peak? I know it charted highest, but there were a TON of copies in clearance bins back in the day - I'd have to assume Copper Blue sold better on the whole.

I think FU:EL did better overseas. Like, really well.

Both albums were top ten over there, which is crazy.

also I dunno if I trust Mould's "actually people care more about the band that was my baby a lot more than the band with grant hart writing half the songs" analysis. Guessing a Husker Du reunion would pull a little more money than a Sugar one.

I would guess otherwise. Husker Du broke up a generation ago, 25 years, with only a fraction of mainstream support at the time. Unlike the Replacements, though, I've always sensed HD remains more a well kept secret sort of thing, at least in today's market.

Husker Du had more albums than Sugar, has been namechecked by more bands as an influence, has been memorialized in books and likely has so many "new" fans (since 1988) who missed them the first go-round. Sugar was pretty cool, but likely ranks on par with The Breeders. You could argue that more people know the words to "Cannonball", but it's only the Pixies that could carry out a worldwide reunion tour.

One of my best friends is very close to Mould and his partner; he says Mould's income these days derives from deejay gigs and royalties, most of which come from his post-Husker years (he managed himself very well apparently).

IIRC he pretty much set up a licensing agreement as soon as Sugar started which allowed him to (reasonably) dictate some terms when the band signed. Smart move.

He seems to live an ideal life: happily settled in a very nice apartment in San Francisco, does the deejay club circuit a few months a year, records an album when he feels like it.

Copper Blue is one of my favorite records.

The live take on "The Slim" on Besides is absolutely devastating. I've been hoping for years that footage of one of those takes will show up on youtube, to no avail thus far.

Bob Mould is also a well known furry and is active on the scene.[4]

he gets the catskins for nothing

mould used to get tons of cash for acoustic tours, get flown in, bring an acoustic on the plane, plug into the PA, play and go, no crew, etc.

he should get back into pro wrestling imo

I'm not at all saying Husker Du doesn't deserve the belated accolades, let alone cash, but there's absolutely no comparing their popularity to that of the Pixies, even at the time. Plus the Pixies broke up only ten or so years before they got back together, and it couldn't have hurt that they also broke up right when the mainstream starting adopting the stuff they pioneered. Sure, there'd be no Pixies without Husker Du, but there was no similar groundswell of enthusiasm (unless you could Sugar's brief success). Further, Pixies sales currently stand around 300,000 to 500,000 an album. What was the max HD ever sold? Do you think it's at all in line with the band's influence? Even in terms of namechecking, the number of times I see a band cite HD is close to nil, compared to Pixies or Pavement or whatever.

either way a husker du reunion will NEVER happen

I'm not so much saying Husker Du is more popular than the Pixies than saying that Sugar is to the Huskers what The Breeders are to the Pixies. I'm disagreeing with that Mould is better known for being in Sugar than in Husker Du

i think a huskers reunion would do pretty big business, like for example when i saw Mission of Burma on their reunion tour it was probably 1000 ppl, they commented from stage that there were only like 20 ppl the one time they played mpls in the old days.

also: old punkers are hella loyal.

Dunno if I'd call the Burma reunion big business. Either way, that band broke up originally well before it found out how far it could go (or not. The Huskers gave it a real shot, though. But I wouldn't imagine a HD reunion (which will never happen) would come close to, say, a Replacements reunion. Huskers have stayed relatively underground.

i think huskers would be way bigger than burma. i guess i consider 1000 ppl big business relatively, i dunno.

either way a husker du reunion will NEVER happen

― gr8080 sings the blues (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 4 March 2011 22:49 (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^^^^^^^^THIS, and matt otm throughout this thread.

I interviewed Bob Mould for his "Body Of Song" album and I asked him at the end of ithe chat what the prospects were of a reunion. He said that it was not likely.

First of all, he claimed that contrary to my assumptions, there are not promoters waving bags of cash at them to do so.

Even without that tempation, he said too many hurtful things have been said by the other two (or maybe just one... I didn't use it in the interview and I don't have the transcript and might not be able to dig up the audio; all I have is the story I turned in) that he deemed it an impossibility.

That said, I cannot believe that nobody with a check book at least took their temperatures. I don't believe it would have been on par with The Pixies in terms of interest but I know a lot of people who never got to see Husker Du live who would pay for the chance now.

I include myself in that, actually.

Mould is too comfortable financially and psychologically to need a HD reunion, I was told.

Husker Du live : you're not missing THAT much.

i have many, many bootlegs that argue otherwise, us steel

IIRC, Mould did an interview, I guess when his last lp came out, where he said not only wasn't there going to be an HD reunion, but also that their SST albums weren't going to be expanded/reissued/remastered because all three guys had to over see/sign off on the project. He then advised fans to hold onto their vinyl.

I've also seen interviews with Hart where he claimed Mould tried to low-ball/strong-arm all the rights away from him and Greg, pissing him off and pissing away what little good feeling came of the hell-freezes-over one-time-only demi-reunion (where, incidentally, Mould chose a Hart song and Hart chose a Mould song - perhaps not coincidentally, "Never Talking to You Again" and "Hardly Getting Over It").

yo stevie -- which husker bootlegs are the best? i don't have any!

It's a pity that the end of Husker was so unnecessarily ugly and messy...that whole thing with Mould telling Hart he'll never have more than 45% of the song on any record and then Hart inevitably firing back after the split, just shake hands and either get a reunion gig going or completely call time on it in the right way. I'm anxious to see how he will depict that last year or so in the autobiography.

It was more complicated than that, too, involving everything from AIDS scares and suicide to drugs (Mould cleaned up first and got the upper hand; Norton, as far as I can tell, has stayed out of it).

x-post Tyler, I have a great Trenton bootleg I've enjoyed. Most famous may be "Lyndale's Burning," Minneapolis '95: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=0DF8LFZM

i have about 20gb of husker boots :)

well,maybe 10. on a load of data cdrs

It's impossible to side with either Mould or Hart: one has been sober for years and doing well, the other wasn't.

awesome, thx stevie. i'll check it out -- i take it it's 85 not 95?

tyler - there's a boot from 86 i think, in minneapolis, where they debut a lot of candy apple gray, and also cover 'you're so square', that's pretty amazing. also track down the children's crusade boot, which contain three or four more sets of land speed record-era awesomeness. youtube had some great live du, too.

trenton bootleg josh mentions above is great especially because, iirc, bob has a real tantrum about spitting in the audience at one point.

oh oops, i thanked stevie instead of josh. thanks to both of you!

Lyndale's is awesome, although I think Celebrated Summer is listed and the actual track is...something else. Don't remember.

Yeah, they didn't really talk a lot onstage.

and also cover 'you're so square', that's pretty amazing.

Stevie, is that the version that morphs into "the wit and the wisdom"?

i think ppl might exagerate grant's drug use a bit, i've heard he's fairly sober now.

but grant isn't like other people.

my old band was playing a big benefit show for a mutual friend's divorce, you had to do some anti-love songs...we were going to play "never talking to you again" and didn't know grant was on the bill, anyway i screwed up my confidence and walked up to him and told him we were going to play it, he said right away he's come up and play it with us. he even had us cut out the bridge, which he said was boring...but yeah i was in heaven i couldn't believe it. could you imagine bob doing that? (my band was a nowhere band, not a big deal even locally)

he's around a lot, his house just burned down but he was living with a friend of mine, i think grant is more of a true artist than bob in a lot of ways, i don't think he was made for this world. bob seems smart and together but honestly his new solo stuff is so boring and dead to me. even a weird uncomfortable grant solo show when he's like playing the same song three times in the set, or repeating the last chord from a song like 15 times and being weird to the audience, it's always something.

royalties, most of which come from his post-Husker years

pretty sure every SST artist gets more royalties from their post-SST years until the non-SST reissues come out

Not sure what a "true artist" means in 2011, tbh. No snark intended.

? Why would it mean anything different than say 1989? or 1992? Or least to the extent that whatever year it was got in the way of the 'artistry'?

pp, yes its that boot - its sometimes known as boston 1986 but when i bought it on vinyl in the 90s it was credited as a minneapolis show. i'm pretty sure i got it before living end came out, and what i liked most about it was that bob and grant sang harmonies on each others songs, whereas on the studio versions, for the most part, grant's double-tracking harmonies on his songs, and bob on his songs. the version of green eyes on this boot is my favourite: the final chord always leaves me real choked.

? Why would it mean anything different than say 1989? or 1992? Or least to the extent that whatever year it was got in the way of the 'artistry'?

Well, I wouldn't define living in poverty as part of the requirements of true artistry.

grant hasn't been living on the streets, he was living with his elderly mom taking care of her. She moved into a home. Then the house burned down. You reallyseem to want to view him in a negative light. I think he's a true artist because of his art. He always had such a gift for songs, for melodies, that were so distinctively grant. Bob is more successful, but after sugar he is a bore.

I loved both of them.

I'm very sorry about how badly Hart's life has turned out, especially so since in HD I considered him as good as Mould. It's quite likely that had Hart the opportunities he might have churned out as many terrific post-HD songs as Mould. Because I admire domestic bliss more than poverty, and I took from your earlier remarks that Hart's problems the last twenty years made him a Truer Artist, which I can't accept (although we agree that I have no use for Mould after Sugar). Maybe I incorrectly interpreted your posts.

Because I admire domestic bliss more than poverty, and

"Your Favorite Thing" sounds like "Friday I'm in Love", but sucks much more.

thanks!

i feel like building a time machine just to go back to 2001 and slap myself seconds after the opening post in this thread. copper blue may be the best end-to-end album he was ever involved with.

also, reissues in july! and i guess he's touring again as sugar?

He played at Shepherds Bush Empire last night - the whole album of Copper Blue (I couldn't go).

interview

i think j. wurster is his drummer now; not sure about bass

Been saying it for years: Sugar >>>>>>>>>>> Husker

Nice try

Alfred … OTM?

no

Understand that I discovered Husker backwards from Sugar, and while I appreciated Mould's songcraft i the eighties (and still do: Flip Your Wig is one of my essentials) he finally crafted a sound commensurate with a songcraft that never stopped expanding on those three Sugar releases.

Grant hart >>>>sugar
I like sugar but let's get real

Alfred not on the money. But yeah, Mould's pop instincts are stronger in Sugar than they were in Husker Du. But then, he didn't need to fly the pop flag so high in Husker Du, and when he did, it only made that band even better.

I don't doubt Hart could have created as many good records as Mould did between 1989 and 1994.

I love the first Sugar album and EP, but Grant's first two solo albums are every bit their equal, minus the polish, maybe, but great nonetheless.

Sugar boils down to Mould applying the eagle-eye of "Hardly Getting Over It" and "Makes No Sense at All" to vortices of sound.

Any band that doesn't have a David barbe song >>any band that does

Only Barbe song is part of their studio album catalog!

*only one

Yes and it almost negates the entire catalog!!!

Album one, track one ftw:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JFtmMF4UIc

If only the Huskers had signed out with that, brilliantly produced, first Sugar album instead of Warehouse. That's where they were heading.

Mould all the way

Except that it doesn't sound like Husker Du at all. It's where Mould was heading, maybe, but then, it took him a while to get a handle on writing pop songs.

The big mystery to me is how the first Sugar album should sound so good. Lou Giordano, the longtime Husker soundman, is the producer, so why couldn't the band manage a sound that good on their two major label records? I'm at peace with the eccentric production of "Warehouse," but it would have been interesting to hear it with that Sugar sheen.

Listening to MBV was a kick in the ass, I reckon.

6music have been playing loads of Sugar lately, I had been wondering why. Loved Copper Blue, I'm quite tempted to dig it out again actually.

Listening to MBV was a kick in the ass, I reckon.

Irony is that MBV and the Pixies were explicitly borrowing from Husker Du. So Mould turns around and borrows explicitly from them!

Excellent stuff: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16862-sugar-reissues/

http://thephoenix.com/Boston/music/141407-sugar-copper-blue-beaster-file-under-easy-lis/

Disappointed eric went on about My Bloody Valentine and "My Favorite Thing" without noticing that "My Favorite Thing" totally jacks "Blown A Wish." I want this bit of trivia to be popularized already.

Copper Blue is a top ten all-time record for me.

I listened to the Copper Blue reissue on Spotify and it sounds terrific. Really want to pick up the vinyl.

For the longest time I assumed this band was terrible, beyond the couple of singles they played on my local alt-rock station. This was based entirely on their albums turning up constantly in used bins all over central Illinois in the later half of the 1990s.

poor Matthew Sweet!

the version of "The Slim" on Besides is amongst my favorite performances by anyone; by contrast the original sounds tame.

looks like the 2nd disk of the FUEL rerelease is the same as the bonus disk of Besides, which is a fabulous set, with another heartbreaking "Slim" to close it off.

Do any of these reissues have Bob Mould's song "Can't Fight It" from No Alternative? What a great song.

LOVE these remasters. Got the download from Merge on the weekend, and am anxiously awaiting the albums with all the bonus stuff.

I assume the remasters are the same ones that Edsel used for the reissues? I grabbed the 3-disc Edsel version of Copper Blue a bit earlier this year. Thinking I'll probably do the same for Beaster and FU:EL later, though the Edsel version of Beaster seems pretty pricy now considering the lack of extras beyond the videos.

Weird, I was at that Chicago show on the 2nd disc of the Copper Blue remaster. I only went for openers Scrawl (who were brilliant), but since I loved Husker Du, I figured I'd check out Bob's new act. About four songs in, I bailed. It sounded to me like tepid, warmed-over Du rejects. But I regret leaving, since they played "Armenia City In The Sky" later in the set.

here i shall reiterate my request for scrawl to reunite

nevertheless, u tarfumes were mad

Almost a year to the day after the Sugar show, I saw Scrawl open for PJ Harvey (same venue). They were even better that time.

I think Scrawl still occasionally reunites for one-offs, but only in Columbus. Really wish they'd do a tour.

OH MAN
Peej and Scrawl? Together? So dreamy.

where do i start with Sugar and Bob Mould in general— at work, every time a Sugar song comes on a Spotify playlist I am puzzled as to why I don’t know much, because i love it.

Do you mean post Husker Du stuff? In that case, probably "Copper Blue" (Sugar) or "Workbook" (solo), maybe. Not too much of his solo stuff has been essential, imo, but lately his work has at least become more compelling again.

Yeah, post Husker. Thanks JiC.

Can't forget Beaster.

Beaster rules, but it's pretty intense.

Sunshine Rock is my favorite solo album (i.e. credited to just Bob Mould). Love everything by Sugar - Copper Blue is the place to start but they made only a few records so I'd just get all of them. Hüsker Dü is one of my very favorite bands, I try not to compare his work afterwards with them as I'm always going to miss some element of that alchemy (similar to the Beatles vs. their solo work or any other great band vs. solo projects).

Copper Blue and Beaster are impressive as expertly sculpted noise. Hooks on hooks too.

Beaster is amazing and don’t sleep on Black Sheets of Rain if you’re feeling loud and gloomy.

"Copper Blue" is where Mould looked at all the bands that copped his deal, from Pixies to My Bloody Valentine, and said, OK, if that's what you want, I'll give you that, and then some. Then, having gotten it out of his system, apparently decided he didn't really have it in him to do it again, though like I said, his recent run is a pretty strong return to form.

I was 15 when I got into Bob and it was via BSoR. The big single was “It’s Too Late” which really spoke to me. That sinking feeling!

Black Sheets of Rain has good songs flattened by a rhythm section that looks promising on paper.

"It's Too Late" and the title track rule.

imo

Sacrifice/Let There Be Peace is super good too. Noisy dirge I learned to headbang to.

Lotsa whiny filler in there but if you’re experiencing heartache or romantic disappointment I’m sure there’s a lot to like.

ooh yeah re "Let There Be Peace."

I'll defend File Under: Easy Listening, on which he said, "Y'all want me write super-catchy, crunchy Matthew Sweet songs? I can do that too."

I assume there are strong tracks scattered throughout all his post-Sugar solo albums, but at this point I feel that if I needed them I would have found them. Tbh, I've never really gone back through to the aforementioned current Jon Wurster-Jason Narducy run, either, as good as they sounded. For sure the last time I saw him with the band live he impressed me more than he had in years.

Workbook has a deservedly high status as one of the classic “getting one’s head together in the country post-traumatic band breakup” albums. It’s great from beginning to end.

otm -- it's a late '80s chamber pop album. It's as intense as Richard Thompson's stuff but louder.

I owe all of you fist bump, because I hadn't listened to "Beaster" in ages and somehow forgot about this absolute banger that no mere youtube rip can do justice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gApndS7YOIg

When that synth horn line blares and that bass kicks in = heaven

Seconding praise for Copper Blue, Beaster and Workbook. I can understand people feeling burned out on his later solo stuff - the thing about Bob is he sounds a lot like Bob, his voice always sounds like Bob, his guitar tones always sound like Bob, and I can understand the feeling that maybe you've had enough records and songs that sound like Bob. I will say, though, his 2020 primal scream Blue Hearts is a phenomenal record, his forthcoming one is really great too. And I swear by the tuneful bleakness of "Hubcap", his self-titled post-Sugar solo album from 1995, which is a rewardingly bruised breakup album.

I love this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BF3-xFBNjI

Yup, absolutely killer song, the lugubriousness of it is exquisite.

Singing from the same ditch where he wrote Too Far Down.

Really love this one off The Last Dog & Pony Show, too. A few good tunes on that - Moving Trucks, Who Was Around, Classifieds. Another breakup album. Basically, sad Bob = great Bob.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw3e12vb4Ds

He writes breakup songs that hit like daggers in the back. But this one, which is focused on the loss of a lover rather than the ire that betrayal inspires, is one of my absolute favourites of his.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlYm2mA4NW0

Y'all are trying to make me go back and listen to those immediately post-Sugar solo albums, but I won't be tricked. Stand your ground!!!

Hahaha

I stand by my initial post in this thread:

In praise of..._Beaster_ by Sugar

(Even if lukas said in response that I would never understand in full, not being from Minnesota.)

Y'all are trying to make me go back and listen to those immediately post-Sugar solo albums, but I won't be tricked. Stand your ground!!!

you SHALL be Bobrolled!

JC Auto is where it's at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9VL-9Sg1fw

AH KNOW
AH KNOW

I remember a piece in the UK press at the time, a glowing review or feature, that wrote of JC Auto "as the song grinds on I'm not sure why anyone would listen to this for pleasure". And it wasn't a criticism, just a comment on the scouring, cathartic experience of that record which, tbh, is exactly what I dig about it.

Yet still catchy as hell!

AH KNOW
AH KNOW

good god i need to be in a car listening to JC Auto so fucking loud right now, might even go for a drive

JC Auto is the track I played when this thread popped up

One of the things I love about Bob's run since "Silver Age" is he's writing songs that I connect with as someone older, that lyrically it's not just about the usual subjects but addresses getting older, losing people and the struggle to find meaning in life. Looking forward to the new one and will see him live for the first time in yonks.

Thanks all, also glad i could kickstart another conversation. His stuff post-Husker has always been a big blind spot for me so this is really great :-)

So much good stuff ahead for you!!

Guitar solo on Wishing Well still makes my hair stand on end. And you know it's coming and yet every single time -and all these years later- it knocks the wind right out of me

I use to bawl like a child to "Brasilia Crossed with Trenton."

same tbh

Fun fact that I am almost ashamed to admit: I'm not sure I've (whispers) ever heard "Workbook." (Runs out of the room, slamming the door behind me, crying and cackling at the same time.)

Going to be digging some of his solo work as a result of this discussion.

The “little clue to something” is in the very next line: “Parts of it seem over now, you expect a real solution”.

Take the first letter of each word and you get:
P O I S O N Y E A R S.

The “little clue” is thus a link back to Bob’s prior song “Poison Years”.

I like "A Good Idea" far better than "Debaser". Unlike the latter, the lyric actually matches the menace of the music.

"Hoover Dam" is also great, weirdly uplifting ("I'll see you later later!").

The only problem with Copper Blue is that I always feel worn out by the end of it, and not in a cathartic way. Something about the mastering is relentless even on the prettier songs.

I also love "Where Diamonds Are Halos" but I wish Mould sang it, since Barbe really can't sing. Some of my favorite Mould guitar is on the live version.

Listening now. I guess I have heard bits of "Workbook" before, that's for sure. I maintain that Maimone and Fier are a terrible fit, but the cello is dope and smartly deployed.

The keyboard solo in "Hoover Dam'is my favorite Mould moment.

CHALLOPZ: "Gift" off FUEL is better than anything off Copper Blue and Beaster.

Brasilia Crossed with Trenton is really astonishing.

I am so excited right now, just downloaded a shitload of this music.

“Whichever Way The Wind Blows” is one of my fave cathartic blowout solo BM moments - a clear precursor to “Judas Cradle” and the like

FUEL is decent but my least favorite Sugar, but I caught the FUEL tour and they absolutely ripped.

the (sugar) besides comp initially came with a bonus disc called 'The Joke is Always on Us, Sometimes' that is a FUEL-era show at first avenue in mpls; i assume it is still available on certain reissues. worth checking out because it fucking rules

ooh I've been meaning to start a solo Mould poll forever. my faves are Modulate and Life & Times, probably because they're the gayest (or have found me at my gayest, whatever), then Last Dog & Pony Show and Workbook.

can't go wrong with any Sugar, there's not much and it all rules. FUEL the best imo, a perfect album, "Gift" praise otm.

I think I was at that show that was included in the Besides bonus disc

Funny, when I saw them here on the FUEL tour I left pretty disappointed. Maybe it was the venue.

fwiw i think barbe's contributions ('company book' and especially 'frustration') stand up pretty well!

The keyboard solo in "Hoover Dam'is my favorite Mould moment.

Was my first favourite song off Copper Blue, as it reminded me of my pre-teen obsession with Genesis. Now my choice would have to be The Act We Act, all those infinite melodies and counter-melodies piled on top of each other like cogs in a magnificent metallised clockwork.

I also love "Where Diamonds Are Halos" but I wish Mould sang it, since Barbe really can't sing. Some of my favorite Mould guitar is on the live version.

LOVELOVELOVE the Mark Goodier session version that was on the b-side to the If I Can't Change Your Mind single, iirc (maybe only in the UK). Barbe's voice is stronger there than on the live LP, and I love the riff. I also really like his Frustration - and Company Book, off FUEL, might be my least favourite song of Barbe's in Sugar, but it's still fairly strong.

I have a signed copy of Copper Blue, my pension plan!

Was my first favourite song off Copper Blue, as it reminded me of my pre-teen obsession with Genesis. Now my choice would have to be The Act We Act, all those infinite melodies and counter-melodies piled on top of each other like cogs in a magnificent metallised clockwork.

same

'Black Sheets...' getting short thrift here, I know it's a little overlong but it has wonderful tunes like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z07ds8xglk

I think Workbook is my favorite so far— seems like one incredible song after another to me.

"Compositions for the Young and Old"!

Out of Your Life always struck me as hilariously on the nose — if you want me out of your life, all you gotta do is tell me!

Sinners and their Repeatances is the one that got to me

I think Workbook is my favorite so far— seems like one incredible song after another to me.

nice

listened to “Hoover Dam” four times in a row this morning.

If you made a deal with the guy in the horns with the cape

😈

So in the fall of 1991 I saw a Bob Mould acoustic show at First Avenue, and he played a bunch of new songs that would turn up in the future on various Sugar releases, and the highlight was “Hoover Dam”.

Rarewaves are knocking out those Bob Mould "Distortion" sets for next to nowt...

Mould screaming "A part of me stands confused AGAIN/watching it slip right THROUGH MY HANDS" was killing me earlier on "Fortune Teller". Mould-song is all time.

“Tilted” is the one from Beaster that I keep
coming back to.

Safe to say I am a newly-minted huge fan of this guy and his projects since Husker Du.

Please also check out Grant Hart’s solo work!!!

For sure Intolerance and Good News for Modern Man and ... Nova Mob?

Nova Mob's second, self-titled LP is excellent, and I love Good News For Modern Man.

And sure, The Last Days Of Pompeii is hella strong, too.

even his later albums are good -- Hot Wax? The Argument? Would gladly listen to anyday

I have been known to use "You're the Reflection of the Moon on the Water" to illustrate some truths about sentence structure :)

Those ones never clicked with me, I should revisit.

I love "Barbara" and "California Zephyr" on Hot Wax too -- in the tradition of GH writing amazing catchy songs about women that have nothing to do with romance <3 <3 <3

oh! and "My Regrets" -- so classic!! right up there with his best sing-alongs

Like "The Main" from Intolerance -- what a song!!

I made a short sweet GH playlist for a friend with my personal favorites on it -- feel free to enjoy it!

my GH playlist

Gratifying to see the GH love, I think his solo material is much more consistent than Bob’s, if not as prolific.

The only time I saw him perform was in a snowstorm in New York in front of a small crowd where he quizzed the audience about car trivia

He tossed a free LP copy of American Hot Wax into the crowd (such as it was) and it hit a woman unawares

I have listened to Beaster at least once a day for the past ten days.

It’s that kind of recording 💜

I know
I know
I know

Tabes🩷

Very little footage of Sugar playing stuff from this album, afaict, but here's one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSv9e55NfX4

Here is where I admit I thought he was saying I’m no I’m no I’m no. Made sense and it stuck 🤷🏻‍♀️

oh wait! I never thought of that!

He does say I’m not your Jesus Christ so I always thought I’m no made sense.

I saw Sugar in 1993 and they were incredibly loud and fast, so much so that they erased all the dynamics of the music. A fun, visceral experience but the LP is a better record.

I saw that tour as well and it was just that: so loud, so fast. I was exhausted after just watching them play. Yes, there was quite a bit of moshing, but La Luna was packed.

I’m no

does make sense.

I kind of like the ambiguity— is there an official lyric sheet?

yeah it's 'i know' in the lyrics in the booklet

I read their UK live reviews at the time and they were uniformly meh

Idk — prob on Genius? It reminded me of the inevitable son/heir vs sun/air moment everyone eventually has on their own time. For me it happened pretty early but some people go decades thinking one and then plotz when they realize maybe it’s not what they thought.

here you go...

https://i.ibb.co/F44MnwNt/beastr.jpg

from 1993, quality ain't great - a couple of pro-shot clips from this show, sourced from late night music show The Beat presented by the legend that is Gary Crowey - but a couple of Beaster songs on here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGGqv3ho3YM

thanks NickB.

honestly, the record is SO MASSIVE sounding that those live recordings don't inspire much, though I'm certain it was probably astonishing in person.

I've heard that to be in a small room w/Sugar, esp early on, was a volcanic, physical, super-intense experience. I'm guessing a big open-air festival or antiseptic TV studio is never going to capture that vibe.

Sugar did a short tour of small venues before the release of Copper Blue and I would’ve loved to see that show. When I saw them at First Avenue main room in 1994 touring FU:EL it was good but not overwhelming.

Awaiting some new library books, so picked up Dennis Cooper’s ‘Smothered in Hugs,’ a collection of his prose writings on art and music. Included a fascinating interview with Mould, fresh of the heels of recording FU:EL and the Beaster tour.

I wonder if Mould feels differently now about his sexuality— this feature basically has him saying, “My sexuality is my own business and I won’t be a freak for a media circus.” I respect it, but also find it to be sort of a cop-out.

To those who were fans at the time, what was your impression of Mould’s gayness? (I was born in 1984, and tho I remember when FU:EL came out because I was already a Sam Goody/Tower Records rat, I never listened to it)

I will say that I find Beaster to be a very GAY record.

I don't think Mould formally came out until the early '90s, but as I understand it he never actively tried to hide his sexuality, either. Reading his book, it seems sort of like coming out did allow him to explore different facets of his gayness until he found a good fit, if that makes sense. He's married now, so maybe doesn't feel the need to talk about it much anymore? Though he never talked too much about his gayness to begin with.

I was a college undergrad during this era. I noticed the lack of gender specificity and the reliance on the second-person. His SPIN interview in '95 was the Big Coming Out moment.

It wasn't like the Pet Shop Boys, whose the hints over the years were akin to elbows in the ribs.

I wonder if Mould feels differently now about his sexuality— this feature basically has him saying, “My sexuality is my own business and I won’t be a freak for a media circus.” I respect it, but also find it to be sort of a cop-out.

I spoke to him in 2020 about the Cooper interview and his coming out - which he says was p much a fait accompli as the magazine was planning to out him whether he cooperated or not:

In 1994, however, Spin magazine signalled their intention to “out” Mould. “It was, ‘We can do this the hard way or the easy way,’” he remembers. “They sent Dennis Cooper to do the interview, and he was a good guy. But it was awful. I was gay, I had an affinity with the community, but I was in a monogamous relationship, I wasn’t out at gay bars, I hadn’t been burying my friends every weekend. I wasn’t Jimmy Somerville, or Tom Robinson, the guys who’d done the heavy lifting back then. I couldn’t be a spokesperson for anything other than my music.”

The experience was traumatic, but ultimately helped Mould reconcile his sexual preference and his sexual identity. In 1998, he moved to New York’s Chelsea and became “part of the scene, finally. I decided, ‘I’m gonna be gay, get pretty, go to the gym and pick up a new lifestyle.’ It was a blast, hanging out with porn stars, going to wild parties on Fire Island, working out with Sandra Bernhard. Electronic music was the soundtrack to it all: Sasha and Digweed, Madonna, Cher… Here comes the vocoder!”

Mould began experimenting with electronic music, confusing his longtime fanbase. “A gay narrative plus no guitars equals WTF?” he laughs. “I had no idea what I was doing, and nobody else was getting it, but I didn’t care.” He later relocated to Washington DC and, alongside DJ Rich Morel, started the weekly club night Blowoff, where he discovered and was embraced by the “bear” community. “I’d been this confused gay guy who didn’t really have an identity,” he remembers. “Finding a community I was comfortable in, within a scene that wasn’t ‘body-centric’, was like finding home. And those parties were my craziest escapades as a gay man. One night Lady Gaga’s bodyguards took over the DJ booth and she played Bad Romance for the first time ever, standing at the balcony like Eva Perón, and the whole dancefloor froze …”

I haven't got the transcript to hand but he was v open about how there was definitely a gay scene within hardcore that many straight participants in punk were completely oblivious to.

I was a fan at the time (and read that Spin article) at a college in Minnesota, so surrounded by fans or at least people who were familiar with the Minnesota music scene and I think people already guessed or knew. No one I knew stopped being a fan or was shocked. It definitely didn’t surprise me, something in the back of my mind always read him as queer.

thanks! and wow, stevie, that interview portion is wild.

This is what Hart told me years ago:

Back towards the beginning, were you and/or Bob out of the closet? How did people treat you in hardcore punk circles?

GH: Well, I had toured with male companions. When you went to the Longhorn, the original punk palace in town, it was three doors away from a bar that for fifty years has been called The Gay 90s. It became a gay bar conveniently. Especially in the early days in the pre-hardcore American punk thing, there was pretty consistent gayness coming through there. I’m the first one to use that word in the conversation, and it’s not one that I really like the identity of. Especially the way that homosexual culture has moved in the post-AIDS days. I think it’s more about making money and wearing the right clothes. But I had toured with male companions very early on, and my partner at the time was posed with the question “What does it feel like being the boyfriend of this famous man, blah blah blah?” And my friend was pretty unsophisticated, and told her something that was rather crude, but it never seemed to be … you know, when you’re dealing with a very small orbit, it doesn’t seem like such a big thing. Then by the time it would be a big thing, the people that you’re dealing with have dealt with … Take for example Joan Rivers. Here’s a person that my assumption is she’s no stranger to gay people, and by the time we were appearing with her (on her daytime show, 1987) it wouldn’t be the kind of question or topic that the big industry moves you towards. You know what I mean? They accept it, and they’re cool behind it, and they’re doing it themselves, but we can’t let the people down in Topeka think that this is what the case is. And really, it really didn’t define much about the band. If anything, it would have been just another question mark, because we were so unlike the stereotype de jour. I don’t think with us there was … Like Bob, for instance, and this apparent cross he was bearing about the thing for so long. He just belabored making any kind of announcement about because other people were saying he was closeted and stuff, which was certainly not true. If anybody from Minneapolis would have asked “what side is Bob’s butter on?” there was no question. But then he belabored this “coming out” thing, by which time the culture itself had become so unappreciative. I remember reading something in a Los Angeles gay paper, where it was like “Big deal, Bob,” you know? I think that kind of hurt him. Not business wise, but I think it was kind of like he expected other gay people or something to be more supportive when in this day and age they’re off doing their own thing. No real common ground, you know?

So many groups have used their band for politics that it’s almost more surprising to not say anything.

GH: Yeah. I think beyond everything, maybe part of the hurt for him was that maybe a little part of him wanted to be a spokesman. And of course, I just read some very cruel things that I didn’t feel happy about when that happened for him. Whereas I’ve had a more strangely balanced relationship with the public or the media. I realized when the band broke up, and before then, that a couple of vicious people shooting their mouth off can brand you with one topic. In my case the break-up of the band and all the allegations that were thrown around then. It’s just one part of the business that you just have no control over. No matter what kind of publicist you have, or whatever, if somebody decides they’re going to burn you, they’re going to bun you.

Actually it chocked me more Grant had a kid. But then Grant did strike me as the kind of guy who’d try anything once.

Dredging up the old memory banks now and I think I was primed for the Spin reveal because I’m almost positive that the village voice had outed him before that—pointing out in the “If I Can’t Change Your Mind” video that one of the Polaroids of couples (with “This is not your parents’ world” written on reverse) was of him and his then-partner.

does make sense.

I kind of like the ambiguity— is there an official lyric sheet?

― butt dumb tight my boners got boners (the table is the table), Sunday, February 9, 2025 9:26 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

yeah it's 'i know' in the lyrics in the booklet

― Clock DVLA (NickB), Sunday, February 9, 2025 9:28 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

The lyrics booklet in the box has it "I'm your Jesus Christ, I know..."

Wow my brain fills in the blanks it wants to fill in i guess!!

I hadn't given any thought to whether or not anyone in HD was gay until the outing. I noticed the same things that Alfred noticed but didn't put two and two together at all. I was in high school when I got into him/them and at the time (to me, a girl) I didn't give it much thought beyond the songs being a cut far above the average songs about romantic love. When I found out I was like OOOOOHHH ok. Then I liked him/them even more.

When Bob got into writing for wrestling it seemed like the gayest thing he could possibly do until the DC DJ phase.

One of the Boo Radleys fanzines had a tour diary covering them when they supported Sugar in the US. There was mention regarding Bob being gay which was the first time I'd seen mention of it.

About a year later, it became more widely known, and I remember a letter to the NME where somebody was clearly a fan but was somewhat uncomfortable...

two full listens to Beaster today. pretty convinced this is an album that came to me at exactly the right time of my life and i am fine with it.

gonna get an insane JC AUTO themes tattoo, already have a little sketch of it.

basically: a sign as if an auto repair shop: JC AUTO

below that, the moveable plastic letters saying

I KNOW
I KNOW
I KNOW
I KNOW

As a metalhead who loved punk and hardcore, I never thought about Bob (or Grant) as gay. I never thought about their sexuality, just as I never thought (or think) about J Mascis or Paul Westerburg or anyone else. I may have missed out on a gay nuance in what they did but otherwise... I was always pretty much didn't care about these things. Like, Rob Halford came out and I was like, it's about time, but I felt he made it pretty obvious. Maybe Bob and Grant did too but I wasn't as attuned to notice.

I interviewed Bob for the first time during the Blowoff record release for B-Side Magazine. I am 100% sure I only skimmed over his sexuality and how it influenced his music and that's a shame. I wasn't one to care about it so I didn't and maybe that project deserved it being explored a lot more than I probably did.

There's something positive about "I don't care that you're gay," and maybe Bob liked that positive naivety when we chatted because he was likely inundated with journalists who wanted to speak about nothing but his "gay experience," but to ignore how that informs the art was a blind spot for me at the time.

Inspired by this thread I relistened to Copper Blue and now I can’t get “Man on the Moon” out of my head, especially the “Don’t you know that space is the place“ middle 8.

Especially in America I've seen or heard of some real obtuse reactions to gayness in music. For example, there's the famous story of Boy George at the peak of the band's popularity calling himself a drag queen or something, and all these conservative ears suddenly perking up in anger and protest and confusion: Boy George is gay!?!? I think a lot of people had no idea Freddie Mercury was gay, maybe because especially back then it just wasn't something (straight) people thought about. Same with Elton John. Probably same with Rob Halford. Halford's own response was, yeah, that he made it pretty obvious, but don't underestimate the ability of boneheads to miss the obvious. In the underground/indie/punk world, without a huge platform, in the days before the internet et al., it was probably even easier to fly under the radar, even if you were open. Like, I recently read that great book about the Pogues and learned that not only was Philip Chevron gay, he was openly gay, back when it was iirc literally illegal in Ireland.

Same with Elton John.

I figured Elton was gay because “Nikita” is a boy’s name (which I knew from the wrestler Nikita Koloff).

Me too!!!

not from a wrestler though, but from Khrushchev

Isn't it a gender neutral name, as in "La Femme Nikita"?

I thought Elton John was a Muppet

Understandable
https://nysmusic.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Dm_YOiUWwAExwRO-1.jpg?ezimgfmt=ng%3Awebp%2Fngcb1%2Frs%3Adevice%2Frscb1-1

Heard a clip of his new single Neanderthal, sounded good

the video and music for “Here We Go Crazy” did not inspire confidence imho ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ maybe i am too close to the earlier material at the moment

had not previously checked out the lyrics to 'feeling better'

man, when bob writes a breakup song he really salts the fucking earth

This gay stuff is blowoffing my mind because my buddy and I got mega obsessed with Husker Du/Sugar/Bob Mould when we were 14. My friend bought Warehouse on a whim because the name and cover were weird/intriguing. We soon worshipped all things Bob Mould. Bought Beaster the day it came out, etc. The joys and limitlessness of young music discovery.

Anyway, the confusing thing is we both knew they were gay, and it had a profound impact on us. All this time I totally thought it was a 100% known thing. Now I am realizing we just assumed it somehow and were right?

I remember poring over the lyrics, both Mould’s and Hart’s, and thinking about it from a gay perspective (my friend and I are heterosexual) and it was such a great headstart to us being uhh… “woke” on this particular topic, in a American military community in Germany in 1992/3, and vigilantly preaching acceptance to our peers.

But now I’m like “how the fuck did we know?!” No idea.

Good gaydar, man.

After Husker Du broke up there was at least some talk of it following a Hart/Mould personal break up, which both of them consistently denied. Not denied being gay, but denied with varying degrees of angry "he wishes!" Iirc Nova Mob *did* break up because Hart and Tom Merkl broke up, though.

Man, I wish that final Nova Mob album was easier to stream:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCBd7e0wCBQ

Man, I wish that final Nova Mob album was easier to stream:

It's a fantastic record, and I am so glad I still have my (fairly battered) OG vinyl copy from back then. This is genuinely one of his best songs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZaxsYSmSrg

I've got the CD of it I bought the day it came out in Our Price in Hamilton.

I thought the 1994 self-titled Nova Mob album was better than Sugar’s File Under: Easy Listening

I agree (bar the 1st track on fuel) but I think it was maybe the production on FUEL that made it seem not as good as previous

the high points were quite high on it tbf

I got into Mould from his song on The Golden Palominos’ Drunk With Passion, “Dying from the Inside Out.” I was completely struck by how pained yet melodic he could be – and I dug Fier’s bashing behind it. Then I went back and bought Black Sheets of Rain, which was just a great record to blast really fucking loud – I actually got pulled over one night for playing it too loud in my little Mazda hatchback. The trio in the middle of that album—“One Good Reason”/“Stop Your Crying”/“Hanging Tree”—is a great, brutal sequence.

Copper Blue was, as has been mentioned here, just kind of a completely virtuosic indie pop record. “Hoover Dam” is wild because in addition to being awesome, The Beach Boys intro is still just completely WTF. “The Slim” for me, was kind of the heart of the thing.

Still don’t think anything compares to Beaster, just massive in sound and rawness

I think Black Sheets… comes close to the sound but as a full length album is not as focused as Beaster

yeah, agreed

It's hard to describe the head turn that Workbook was when it was released and I think that's why I hold it so dear. Black Sheets is great, but it seemed almost like a retreat back to something he was more comfortable with.

Well this is intriguing...

Is Bob Mould reforming Sugar with original lineup?

https://bsky.app/profile/brooklynvegan.bsky.social/post/3m2pibaejnc2q

Copper Blue singles collection in November

https://bsky.app/profile/bsglaser.bsky.social/post/3m2pgkx4ffk2f

Sort of underwhelming news— “This album that has been repeatedly issued in the past 30 years will be reissued again except in a box of 7 inch records.”

I do know I am on ILM, but truly only a completist nerd cares about such absurd gimmickry

It’s not a reissue of the album, it’s a reissue of the four singles from the album (“Changes”, “Helpless”, “A Good Idea”, and “If I Can Change Your Mind”) as a box of four 12” records, with their original b-sides. It’s still only for completist nerds, but getting those live in Chicago recordings on vinyl is a better deal than re-purchasing Copper Blue in a more cumbersome format.

https://recordstoreday.com/SpecialRelease/19343

Try Again is a fantastic Bob rarity, and I always loved their cover of Armenia. But is Besides out of print on vinyl?

Also, a shame it doesn't include the Mark Goodier version of Diamonds Are Halos from the UK If I Can't Change Your Mind single, always loved that.

Needle Hits E also killer

YES!

should've been on the album

Try Again is a fantastic Bob rarity, and I always loved their cover of Armenia. But is Besides out of print on vinyl?

― meat-based daughter-based unwellness (stevie), Thursday, October 9, 2025 2:25 PM (twenty-three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I think this is still available, or at least you can get new copies for a very reasonable price on Discogs. I've got a copy on order from a record dealer friend!

but getting those live in Chicago recordings

Going to be controp and say that I have been utterly underwhelmed by all the live recordings I have heard of this band. I am sure they were an absolute powerhouse in concert, but all of the live recordings I've heard have left me cold in a way the studio recordings do not.

The covers are fun. I used to own a bootleg of a very early show (pre-album release) with great covers of The Red and the Black and Turning of the Tide

Wichita Lineman m (or was that a solo show?)

this one?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db7nrOXnk6M

I think he’s done it several times in different contexts

pure speculation on my part, but I'm not at all convinced the singles collection is the one and only thing that might be coming up

But is Besides out of print on vinyl?

Looking at Discogs, Besides has never been in print on vinyl in North America and the Creation vinyl singles obviously would have been harder to get here at the time than Ryko CD singles, so this box would have great appeal to a very niche Sugar fan. But the bigger news may be the information that restarted the thread about the possibility of the original three piece reuniting, and this could just be something coming out to help get people talking about the band again.

and if that won't change your mind then nothing will

Bob Mould has had a ton (literally) of archive releases consisting of huge CD and LP boxes, Smaller / select versions of same, and a couple of singleCD/DoubleLP "highlights" all under the collective name of "Distortion".

A lot of these were on offer at various retail outlets, massively discounted. (I got the big CD box, the "live" LP box, and a 4CD redux)

Just saying, I can't imagine what's left to do on the Sugar side. Saturation or wot?

New song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S72djtUIFk

Um, that's pretty great. And barely over two minutes!!

New York and London live shows coming up in May.

tickets available already
https://bobmould.com/news/sugar-return-with-first-new-music-and-live-dates-in-over-three-decades/

... almost. That's where the tickets will be :-/

!!!

I've got to admit, I'm a little torn. The one time I saw Sugar they honestly weren't that great, certainly no better than Bob's current trio with Jason and Jon, who iirc toured Copper Blue a few years ago anyway.

If they play all of Beaster somewhere I better be there. Aside from that I’m having trouble getting excited.

I mean, for now it's just two shows in NYC and two shows in London, so not really a feasible option for me until they expand the tour, so I'm not going to sweat it.

Also, I get it for fans that want it on vinyl, but also not a lot to be excited about for me with the reissues - that Metro show was already a part of the Copper Blue Merge reissue.

wasn't the consensus that Sugar were never that great live

If they play all of Beaster somewhere I better be there.

This is my temptation.

wasn't the consensus that Sugar were never that great live

― disco stabbing horror (lukas), Wednesday, October 15, 2025

The trouble, as I hear it, is Mould's inability -- quite naturally! -- to duplicate the overdubbed guitar tumult of those records.

I saw them on the FU:EL tour and they absolutely ripped

I saw the show that was on the the The Joke Is Always on Us, Sometimes live bonus record and they were fucking great

Pleased to be wrong!

I thought they were meh on the FUEL tour. But honestly, as good as Bob has been for the last 10 years, it's hard to imagine a Sugar reunion being better. Which is to say, anybody that has slept on seeing the current Bob Mouod trio has been missing out.

I saw them at the 40 Watt during the FUEL tour and it fucking killed. Magnapop opened (they were delightful).

Also: the live stuff on the expanded editions are well worth checking out.

I just don’t find any of the live recordings good at all— as others have said, the sound is thin and coupled with the occasional spotty vocal moments, it’s just not worth my time.

Like LL tho, if there was some guarantee that they would play some or all of Beaster, I would be there. Tbh it’s the only record of Mould’s i can’t live without.

(well, as Sugar or solo— there are obviously some Husker Du records i can’t do without)

What about t-shirts?

Feel bad now I’ve never seen the band with Wurster

I saw Sugar live before the albums came out at Bogarts in Cincy. Pretty surprised how packed a gig it was especially I think maybe outside of "Armenia City in the Sky" every tune in the set you never had heard. It was very, very loud and pretty good. I know they played part of Beaster there as I was like when the record came out - that one really heavy tune was not there. I think it was JC Auto.

Buddy of mine saw Sugar in Amsterdam after they were getting big and said he had a ball of hash left and was flying out back to the US after the gig so he ate it and said the gig was like swimming in an ocean and he was still very high over the Atlantic going home. (Can't say anything how good they were but I remembered that and thought it was a good story nonetheless.)

Happy birthday, Bob!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA_pPgwguR8

I came across this the other day, you might have to blow it up to read it but it's pertinent.

https://scontent-ord5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/559972515_1378454660948695_4101449700042128570_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=-JsWJ9sWbHgQ7kNvwFEz3-M&_nc_oc=AdnwMPopM7WSwNBeePrK5LqjwMFtHgv66vsl3gVTJQFWWr96RPyIroLbxUegAfhNKW4&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-1.xx&_nc_gid=5mubTUDq-mxL9qj4hlnM5g&oh=00_AfcHXuFYiEFp5ctIJ3g0yF8O8sPI1gx53Wz7glHrwxdPsA&oe=68F6B0F1

No longer expecting a Frisell cameo on the upcoming Sugar reunion tour

Not too surprising, I’ve seen Frisell many times and he’s also an incredibly nice person - his performances are completely different experiences than Mould’s, and I enjoy seeing both.

wasn't the consensus that Sugar were never that great live

i saw them live with throwing muses and it was fucking incredible

i think there are only 4.5 of them, but i like the barbe songs a lot

the Mark Goodier Session version of Diamonds Are Halos is one of my favourite Sugar songs.

proper power-pop.