You know how sometimes you just get a few lines to a song stuck in your head, and you're not entirely sure what it is for a while? As i was driving home today it was, i eventually realized, the songs Come Around and JC Auto by Sugar. When i got home i went to put those tracks' EP of origin, Beaster, on, and quickly discovered that they sit at a play count of zero in my iTunes library. This particular iTunes library (the Digital Mobyfort) was established in the last quarter of 2012, so it's baffling to me that i haven't listened to Sugar in four full years.
Since i have this blog, where i sometimes muse about music for a captive audience of myself, i thought i'd write a few words about my relationship with this. It is, after all, far more important to me that i write these things than that people read them, so i'll go ahead.
Many of my friends who are into alt-rock that are just a few years older than me should be intimately familiar with Bob Mould's body of work. Husker Du was a big deal in the 80s, and Sugar took up that torch in the 90s, before he embarked on a successful solo career. I, however, was at just the right age when i finally came out of the shelter of classic rock, country, and out-of-context Weird Al that my parents built for me to get swept up in god damn Nu Metal. In the year 2000, i pre-ordered Orgy's album Vapor Transmission (not a thing i admit to lightly), and when it arrived (the day before street date!), there was a second CD in the package. It was the Beaster EP. I believe there was a note in there explaining that they had included something else they thought i'd like as part of a new music promotion. I can't remember for sure if that note actually existed, or if i made that up to try and justify extra items in a mailer. The disc had a notch sawed out of the spine, which generally denotes a radio station promo, so it fits with the story.
I'd go on to listen to that album a lot throughout high school, though i had it filed on my shelf under "Beaster" because i thought that was the band name. The package doesn't make it clear which title is which, and having not known Sugar prior to that, Beaster just seemed more like a band moniker. I don't think i figured it out until college, when i was at a Half-Price Books and found another Sugar album with the same font on the cover. As the years wore on through the rest of the decade, i think it's obvious which disc in that package won out as the more important.
I did eventually see Bob Mould perform solo in 2009, a strange experience since it was just him and a bass player with no drummer, still playing the music with distorted electric guitars. I don't think they played any Sugar material at that show, but maybe a few Husker Du covers? It was a long time ago. I got the lucky sod who took home the set list to email me a picture, but that email is probably long lost at this point. Most importantly, though, after the show i got to tell Mr. Mould how important his music had been to me through my teenage years, and give him a hug.
Good story, Trevor.
Since i have this blog, where i sometimes muse about music for a captive audience of myself, i thought i'd write a few words about my relationship with this. It is, after all, far more important to me that i write these things than that people read them, so i'll go ahead.
Many of my friends who are into alt-rock that are just a few years older than me should be intimately familiar with Bob Mould's body of work. Husker Du was a big deal in the 80s, and Sugar took up that torch in the 90s, before he embarked on a successful solo career. I, however, was at just the right age when i finally came out of the shelter of classic rock, country, and out-of-context Weird Al that my parents built for me to get swept up in god damn Nu Metal. In the year 2000, i pre-ordered Orgy's album Vapor Transmission (not a thing i admit to lightly), and when it arrived (the day before street date!), there was a second CD in the package. It was the Beaster EP. I believe there was a note in there explaining that they had included something else they thought i'd like as part of a new music promotion. I can't remember for sure if that note actually existed, or if i made that up to try and justify extra items in a mailer. The disc had a notch sawed out of the spine, which generally denotes a radio station promo, so it fits with the story.
I'd go on to listen to that album a lot throughout high school, though i had it filed on my shelf under "Beaster" because i thought that was the band name. The package doesn't make it clear which title is which, and having not known Sugar prior to that, Beaster just seemed more like a band moniker. I don't think i figured it out until college, when i was at a Half-Price Books and found another Sugar album with the same font on the cover. As the years wore on through the rest of the decade, i think it's obvious which disc in that package won out as the more important.
I did eventually see Bob Mould perform solo in 2009, a strange experience since it was just him and a bass player with no drummer, still playing the music with distorted electric guitars. I don't think they played any Sugar material at that show, but maybe a few Husker Du covers? It was a long time ago. I got the lucky sod who took home the set list to email me a picture, but that email is probably long lost at this point. Most importantly, though, after the show i got to tell Mr. Mould how important his music had been to me through my teenage years, and give him a hug.
Good story, Trevor.
