The Sugars - The Curse of the Sugars Album Review

Album review of The Sugars 'The Curse of the Sugars' released on Bad Sneakers.

No wonder our parents parents thought about banning it; from the insouciant hip swivel of Elvis to the fuming glare of Jimmy Dean, the true spirit of rock and roll has always been about rebellion, the celebration of youth and the pain of living with a broken heart.

It's a spirit The Sugars have too; originally from Leeds - they're still on the city's Bad Sneakers label - but now incarcerated in London, the trio of Anna Hathaway, Matt Bolton and Alex "Uzi" Lewis make a sound which melds the bygone tunes of the Rock Around The Clock era with the squawl of The White Stripes thrash blues, a sound that their MySpace page eloquently describes as like "Bobby Bland duetting with The Shocking Blue".

Their debut album, The Curse of...rewards those who've faithfully spent the last few years following the band on the road supporting amongst others The Von Bondies, Seasick Steve and Richard Hawley. Kicking off with the insistence of bass heavy single Black Friday, it's evident immediately that is far more than a simple tribute band in operation, illustrated neatly by the Mariachi chimes of Fairytales of Love and the doo-wop of Mama. Hathaway and Bolton share vocal duties, but rather than neatly harmonising and leading politely, they prefer - as on Gossip - to spar like screeching lovebirds who don't any more.

The Curse of.. twists to to the end, closing with torch song balladry on the prickly You Better Go, but it wouldn't be right to ignore the real dark core of it's beating heart; the tooling, crepuscular menace of Unnamed Duet and The Seamstress, both of which thrill to seeing their inner Jack n' Meg unleashed.

It's only rock and roll - but you'll like it.

7/10

Andy Peterson