Sugar Army
Perth, Western Australia, Australia | INDIE
Music
Press
"Every now and then a band comes along that gives you a glimmer of hope for the future of music. Often it’s just a song or perhaps just a nice hook that makes you think “Yeah, we’re going to be alright.” Rarely does this feeling extend to a collection of songs, even an album. So it’s particularly refreshing to note that this is precisely the case with Australia’s newest indie rock sensation, Sugar Army."
- buddyhead.com
"Three years ago Sugar Army dropped an album, The Parallels Amongst Ourselves, that promoted some of the most remarkable and exciting content to come out of Perth, placing them on the radar nationally. Since then, with the four-piece losing bassist Ian Berney to Birds Of Tokyo, it was fingers crossed about what the now-trio could produce with this new incarnation. But sure enough, after six weeks in Sydney at the mouth-watering (and now sadly defunct) Big Jesus Burger studios, they have in their hands a holy whopper of an album.
Lead single Hooks For Hands showcases the band's strength in bass grooves, hard hitting rhythms and big choruses, and along with tracks such as Will You Follow it brings to the table the thrill and intensity of the group's early EP work. An original take on an acoustic tune comes in title track Summertime Heavy as lead singer Patrick McLaughlin's way with words leads to numerous lyrical hooks. And whilst the majority of the album has a somewhat more upbeat feel, the darker, more haunting side of Small Town Charm is a highlight, with the exceptional percussion of Jamie Sher providing a show in itself.
If there were to be any criticisms, it is that Sugar Army have left less room for playing around, and the small elements of promising experiments in prog and ambience from Parallels... seem lost. But then again it goes to show how each song has been tweaked to perfection to ensure no filler; Summertime Heavy is as punchy and tight as it gets. Sugar Army have a way of making everything fall into place, and on the difficult follow-up, the results still amaze." -
- Drum Media Album of the Week (30th August 2012)
“If you don’t like Sugar Army there must be something wrong with you.”
– Marcia Czerniak, Drum Media
“These Perth boys are something else. Talent laid on so thick it drips from their blessed little fingertips, outshining every post-punk synth pop pretender across this wide brown land.”
– Simone Ubaldi, Beat Magazine
“...Genius? It’s very close.” -- Dom Alessio, triple j - Various
Discography
Summertime Heavy (instores September 7 2012) - second LP
- 1st single 'Hooks For Hands' (February 2012)
- 2nd single 'Will You Follow' (due September 2012)
The Parallels Amongst Ourselves (July 11 2009) - debut LP
- 1st single 'Acute' (March 2009)
- 2nd single 'Tongues In Cheeks' (June 2009)
- 3rd single 'No Need For Lovers' (October 2009)
Where Do You Hide Your Toys (23 February 2008) - debut EP
Photos
Bio
SUGAR ARMY are James Sher, Patrick Mclaughlin and Todd Honey. Live they are also Benjamin Pooley and Chris Simmons.
Over the past few years, SUGAR ARMY have released a critically acclaimed debut album & EP, with singles & videos from both releases dominating media all over Australia and finding support across international waters from UK print to US college radio. In that time they've supported Interpol & Smashing Pumpkins, opened the main stage of the Big Day Out, performed at many of the other major Australian summer festivals & toured relentlessly prior to the commencement of solid writing for the new album.
The making of the band's sophomore record was an experience unified with change, the main being the loss of one of its members, and with that, the introduction of a new working dynamic. After a period of intense reflection and exploration, SUGAR ARMY are now ready to reveal their latest body of work Summertime Heavy. This record is crisp, spacious and brutally honest - it's more introspective and personal than the younger The Parallels Amongst Ourselves. Summertime Heavy offers cohesion, ideas & brains unified, a shedding of the past and embracing of the new. The groove is stronger, the lyrics are bolder, and from its foundations, everything sounds and feels completely focused.
Change doesn't just affect one aspect of your being – SUGAR ARMY is now both a dedicated recording project and a live project. Three who record, five who shape the live sound. These are two separate beasts and a further key aspect in displaying the eclecticism of SUGAR ARMY. This band have flexibility and a willingness to explore, to bend and shape, to be stubbornly focused in their own world, yet acutely aware of their surroundings.
Here now is Summertime Heavy. The next chapter to follow.
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