“Come Around”, Sugar

This way: Come Around

Sugar was an American alternative rock band active in the early 1990s. Formed in 1992, they were led by the singer and guitarist Bob Mould (ex-Hüsker Dü), alongside bassist David Barbe (ex-Mercyland) and drummer Malcolm Travis (ex-Human Sexual Response). After frontman Bob Mould departed from Hüsker Dü, he released two solo ventures, Workbook and Black Sheets of Rain; neither album was well received and Mould was released from his contract with Virgin Records America in 1991 as a result. Shortly after, Mould recorded a demo tape of over thirty songs and formed Sugar with David Barbe and Malcolm Travis. The band was named in a Waffle House restaurant in Athens, Georgia, when Mould spotted a sugar packet on the table where he and the other two band members were sitting. 

Beaster is a 1993 mini-album by Sugar. Its songs were recorded at the same time as the band's acclaimed first album, Copper Blue. However, Beaster has a much denser, heavier sound, closer in spirit to frontman Bob Mould's earlier band Hüsker Dü than to Copper Blue. "Lyrically it's so unnerving for me to listen to it…" said Mould. "Musically it's harder, it's a little looser. Lyrically, it's a lot wilder than Copper Blue… Copper Blue was such a great pop record that I just saw this as like the evil twin."

The loosely conceptual work is built around religious imagery, and was even released during Holy Week before Easter in 1993. "I still don't know what it's all about," said Mould after its release. "The Jesus thing everybody picks up on – those are words that are not used lightly. Just the notion of somebody who can do no wrong who eventually gets hung [sic] for doing no wrong. I think that everyone feels like a martyr sometimes." 

[Spotify] Come Around