Sugar, Copper Blue, 1992

Flashback Mini Review

Bob Mould signed to Merge Records earlier this year.  His next album, Silver Age, is due on September 4th.  Merge describes the record as "an intense and concise ten song blast far more reminiscent of Bob’s latter-day Hüsker Dü output."  I've already placed my pre-order.

After Hüsker Dü and a couple of excellent solo albums, Mould channeled his energies into the power trio, Sugar.  Merge just reissued Sugar's two full-lengths, so I figured I'd do a mini review of one of my favorite albums of all time, Sugar's 1992 Copper Blue.

Copper Blue finds Bob Mould honing the noisy pop of Hüsker Dü's "Makes No Sense at All."  On the album, Mould takes a look at the genre he helped create and distills it into ten almost-perfect tracks.  Like all classics, Copper Blue sounds great today even though it is such a product of its own time.

From the power chords that open the album on "The Act We Act," to the opening riff on "A Good Idea" that pays homage to fellow alt-rock pioneers The Pixies, to the Brian Wilson-passed-through-the-grunge-filter of "Helpless," "Hoover Dam," and "Man on the Moon," to the beautiful jangle pop of "If I Can't Change Your Mind," there isn't a weak song in the bunch.

If you don't own Copper Blue yet, go to your favorite retailer and get yourself a copy.  Better yet, whether you own the record or not, purchase the re-issue set from Merge and get the much harder-edged Beaster and Sugar's second album, File Under:  Easy Listening, in the bargain.