Sugar Army are a four-piece rock band from Perth, Western Australia. Formed in 2005, this band has made inroads in the Australian music scene. They were nominated for 2 awards, “Favorite Newcomer” and “Most Promising New Act”, at the 2007 West Australian Music Industry Awards and last year the band released their debut LP, The Parallels Amongst Ourselves, to great fanfare.
From the first song, “Parallels,” you know that you are in the dark mind of Sugar Army. The eerie, tribal sounds pave way to heavy distorted guitar tones that take you to a somber place inside the quartet’s mind. This song leads the way to their 2nd single, “Tongues in Cheeks,” which opens with this haunting chant followed by fast, crazy guitar riff and baseline that will definitely fill you with energy. From this song you can see how most of the album will play out.
While listening to the songs you can’t help but notice the sound has a similar tone as Muse, and a vocals, provided by Patrick McLaughlin, that sounds a lot like fellow Aussies, The Arctic Monkey. The songwriting is quite magnificent on the whole album as well. Even though the songs may sound heavy and deep, they are still pop gems that will make any radio DJ happy.
The subject matter which they sing about also fits with the sound of this band. Mr. McLaughlin has prob had some demons in his life, and they definitely manifest themselves on the tracks. But man is he a poet. For example on the track “Maybe The Boy Who Cried Wolf Was Just Paranoid” you have “He can try to lie but he can’t deny/He’s gonna drop beneath the tide/Cos he needs to find a place to hide/To start all over again” and in “It’s In the Blood” he proclaims, “They’ve been left to rest/With that hollow comfort/Sharing one another misfortune.” Though dark, he belts them out with such sincerity that you can’t help but take notice. Hell, the song “No Need For Lovers” is about the ‘wheelie bin’ murder in Lathlain, Western Australia in 2006 where a couple of lesbian lovers murdered a friend in a fit of jealousy and sadistic pleasure
The only bad thing that I found with the album was that the energy sort of dies on the 2nd half, minus the stellar track “Building Castles”. In this one heavy riffs and the guitar tones cut right through the mix and punch you in the face, which leads to a really mellow break down and ends with a simple chant that closes out this mysterious track. Besides that track you must also listen to “Tongues in Cheek”, “Acute”, and “No Need for Lovers”
Sugar Army definitely has a sound that will cross them over into the mainstream US market, it’s just a matter of time.
enjoY!
Sugar Army – No Need For Lovers