Sugar make up for lost time in Bristol after nearly 35 years
Words/Photos: Images by Ellis
★★★★☆
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There was a sense of unfinished business in the air as Sugar came to Bristol (original trio intact), on their Love You Even Still tour. Nearly 35 years after Bob Mould, David Barbe and Malcolm Travis first formed the band, this was less nostalgia than reclamation: a chance to finally see them do what they did so briefly, and so brilliantly, first time around.
Photo: Images by Ellis | Sugar at Electric, Bristol
First, though, J. Robbins delivered an acoustic set that was anything but polite scene-setting. Best known from Jawbox and Burning Airlines, Baltimore-based Robbins has a wiry, post-hardcore songwriting style: angular melodies and songs that still feel plugged into an amp even when stripped back to one guitar. ‘Anodyne’, ‘Exquisite Corpse’ and ‘Soldier On’ all carried that mix of craft and unease and added to the sense of anticipation building in the room.
Photo: Images by Ellis | J. Robbins at Electric, Bristol
Sugar were not inclined to ease in either. Announcing themselves with the opening trio from their debut album ‘Copper Blue’, they delivered ‘The Act We Act’, ‘A Good Idea’ and ‘Changes’ with force in rapid succession, as if keen to test both the crowd’s memory and the venue’s foundations.
Sugar were largely Bob Mould’s songwriting vehicle, but the trio were an explosive unit on stage. Barbe – the bassist with the permanent grin – was in his element. Taking lead vocals on B-side ‘Where Diamonds Are Halos’, he brought a warmth and harmony that nodded towards Big Star while still sitting inside Sugar’s roaring guitar onslaught.
The ‘Copper Blue’-era ‘Running Out Of Time’ pushed things into thrash-ier territory, with Travis’ studious drum fills holding the whole thing together while Mould pirouetted guitar solos around the stage.
They were not big talkers. Throughout the set, song followed song breathlessly, from across their 90s back catalogue and their two new tracks, ‘House Of Dead Memories’ and ‘Long Live Love’. ‘Hoover Dam’ stood out; on record it always seemed like a track that ELO might have made if they had been around in the grunge era, but here it was anthemic.
Make no mistake, it was loud - almost in My Bloody Valentine territory - but the merch stand thoughtfully sold Sugar-branded ear plugs. It wasn’t all full-frontal noise though: the night’s highlight was ‘Your Favorite Thing’, from ‘File Under: Easy Listening’, its bittersweet power-pop core cutting cleanly through the volume. But then came ‘Tilted’ and ‘JC Auto’, both heavier and more feral from the ‘Beaster’ mini-album, prompting a mosh pit from an audience making up for lost time with admirable commitment.
After making a mock stage exit, Sugar closed triumphantly with ‘If I Can’t Change Your Mind’. It was the perfect ending: melody winning out over noise, but only just. Nearly 35 years after Sugar first formed, this felt less like a reunion than a band discovering, with some delight, that the charge is still there.