The Sugar Beats – The Sugar Beats (Vinil Records)
It was a Saturday afternoon earlier this year when I stumbled on a Sugar Beats set. I was filming a documentary at MoshPit Bar in Sydney. There were whispers on the grapevine that the band was awesome. So, we raced down with a cameraman and a buddy in tow, in the hope that the band would deliver.
The word on the street was correct. Live, The Sugar Beats were overwhelmingly tight, blistering, gutsy and hooky, a three-piece playing high-powered punk rock.
The band has only around for less than 18 months, writing and jamming out songs in a Wollongong lounge room. They were originally just Morgana Ancone on vocals and guitar and Adam Vines from The Strikeouts on drums. After two gigs they were joined by Sara Anderson on bass. Over the last year or so, they’ve been playing the usual haunts, mostly in and around Newtown.
After playing their debut album, my conclusion is that it’s simply a killer. It leaps out of the speakers in an explosion of sound. Jay Whalley and Jemima tracked it at The Pet Food Factory Marrickville and it was mixed by Lachlan Mitchell. Mikey Young mastered it.
This not the first record that I have heard from this studio with punchiness and a distinct sharpness being evident. Recordings from The Pet Food Factory have a blistering guitar sound and that’s perfect for a band like The Sugar Beats. Jay and Jemima really know how get a live sound down on tape.
“Sugar Beat Blues” is one intense opener with bass and drums locked in tightly. The guitars are ablaze and in your face. Morgana bellows out her vocals in a way that could heard for blocks. It’s pure rock in the delivery and the perfect opener.
“Uh Oh” takes down a detour after the blistering opening into the realm of pure pop punk. As Morgana intones “this shit is going hit the fan” I imagine a moshpit exploding in response.
“Beat to My Heart” wrestles with some great riffs as along with terrific harmonies by Sara. Originally by Wollongong’s The Fanging Felines, it has a nod to early Midnight Oil with the sudden change in key.
“Burning Up”: All you can I say that Madonna’s original is buried with a tombstone. It opens with the fattest of distorted basslines. I am now jumping around the flat. It works into a demented train ride, careering off a cliff into the mouth of Hell. The vocals are spat out with venom. The guitars are frantic and then Sara joins in and the song promptly ends.
Side one ends with “Lips”, a slow sensual song with exceptional drumming and some great tom work by Adam. The song build and builds . There so much power in this band.
Side two opens with “Back Room” a sharp song that’s jagged and tight. “Hurry Kane” highlights the locomotive of a rhythm section and in particular the power of Sara’s basslines. She’s never one to overplay and understands the way her instrument can add drama. The arrangements on this album are exceptional.
“Light” takes another turn into pure voodoo and swamplands. It’s a song inhabited by the same demons who haunted The Gun Club and the Scientists. Tribal tom toms and wailing swamp blues guitar, with Morgana singing from pthe it of her bell.
“Liars Kite” ends the album and builds again into pure sonic wildness, with the engine room holding it together like a relentless juggernaut.
Sara and Morgana were playing around the inner-city venues around Sydney from age 17. They went on the play to hundreds of thousands on the festival circuit, playing 150 gigs a tear for a decade as founding members of Nitrocris. So they have honed their craft. With Adam on drums, The Sugar Beats are a powerhouse trio and are world class.
I have owned this record for almost three weeks and it has not left the turntable. Sure, there are hints Babes in Toyland, early Hole and LZ from that that time in the late 1980s when female punk rock took the reins. If this record if had been released at the time it would have led the pack. It is simply is that good
The arrangements are dramatic and the draw on a wide range of influences . The Sugar Beats have an encyclopaedic knowledge of bands and songs to draw from.
The record will sell out fast. I’m considering buying a couple more copies myself. It’s the best local punk rock record of year but it’s also more than that. It’s melodic and every track is a killer.
Buy it on Bandcamp
