The Sugarrush: Blackie’s Wig (Popatak, 1999)
The Sugarrush’s debut album Blackie’s Wig was produced by swedish Kjell Nästen (who had produced plenty of swedish guitar pop classics during the 90’s) and it was released in 1999. It was just the kind of music I had fallen in love with during the last couple of years. Full of catchy songs, power chords and gorgeous singing. I was so extremely excited about it when it arrived and I’m sure that the excitement also reached stupid heights. For example I remember writing to Miettinen that it’s the best pop album ever released. But hey that’s me and hey, I still almost agree with my past self. After all, I think Amazing Disgrace by The Posies is the only album I’ve listened to more in my life than Blackie’s Wig. Sure all those Pet Sounds and Odessey & Oracles are technically better (even The Sugarrush’s second album Mirrorball Ballerinas might be), but no matter how much I adore them, they’ve never been even half as influential in my life as Blackie’s Wig and The Sugarrush. I still know every song and every chord by heart. Therefore Blackie’s Wig still hold a place in my all stars line up and Rubber Soul and Pet Sounds has to settle for a place on the substitute bench.
Why do I love The Sugarrush so much? Well basicly they make me happy. I know that some of the readers might think that I mostly enjoy sad whining and it’s true that I enjoy all kind of sad country and pop songs and being miserable is one of the few things I’m really good at. But that’s only a part of the truth.. and maybe part of the reason that power pop is so dear to me. I love power pop and I love The Sugarrush because they make the world so damn bright and enjoyable. Listen to Blackie’s Wig and you can feel the summer in your heart even during the darkest november days. Here’s one onechord.net description of the band:
“Hardest rockin’ pop band in the world and one of my huge favourites. Want some power chords, killer hooks and bunch of great pop tunes. It doesn’t get much better than this if you are lookin’ for pop that actually rocks. They just make you smile, they might even make you shake your booty. It’s like power pop for the masses. Dynamic songs. Powerful melodies, strong vocals and wonderful harmonies. It is catchy as hell. They are like the boy band with guitars and better songs and have been influenced by The Posies, Matthew Sweet, Lemonheads, Teenage Fanclub. Not forgetting those swedish bands like Popsicle and Wannadies. Looking for sing-along pop anthems or gorgeous rockin’ pop music. Well look no further.”
Blackie’s Wig isn’t the only wonderful The Sugarrush release. I love pretty much everything they’ve done. The follow-up Mirrorball Ballerinas is equally wonderful and We Rock Heavy and Useless Information are killer EPs. There’s also a new excellent The Sugarrush album coming up at some point. Hopefully during 2011, but maybe it’s not yet advisable to go camping outside a record store because this pretty baby has been in the working state for quite some time. Anyway, if you are not yet familiar with The Sugarrush, get started with these two videos. The first one Stereo is the opening track of Mirrorball Ballerinas (2001) and 90’s Salute is an outtake from their latest release, Useless Information EP (2005).
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMAWnGGmIfY]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WquZ8alvRug]
The Soft Rabbit
The Sugarrush boys Andy J. Prinkkilä, Coma Silvennoinen and Paati Wägar have featured in lots of great bands and I won’t go through all of them, because this post is already longer than anyone wants to read. But I have to mention The Soft Rabbit in every possible situation. The Soft Rabbit is Coma from The Sugarrush and he delivers some of the finest pop singer-songwriter stuff this country of ours has to offer. The real crime is that none of it has ever been officially released, but the songs have been on his myspace for a couple of years and they are so beautiful (or I’m not sure can you say that Your Street is beautiful, that’s pretty fucked up stuff but so damn brilliant nevertheless). I demand at least a digital release. I want to write a review and I want to give full five hearts. Absolutely wonderful material.
(The reason why I started making One Chord To Another was the fact that I had totally fallen in love with Finnish guitar pop / power pop bands and wanted to make them better known. Nowadays onechord.net seem to cover a lot of obscure country bands from all over the globe, but Finnish pop was the starting point and still is the main reason this website/blog exists. One Chord To Another becomes 10 years old on 17th of september, 2011. It’s been a long journey and therefore I think I’m allowed to feel a little nostalgic. This not-so-cleverly named 10 years & 10 reasons writing series is meant to select 10 albums/releases that were a huge reason why I either started making One Chord To Another or why I’m still making it. So basicly just 10 finnish releases that will always have a huge place in my heart. One every month I think, so it will be december until the nostalgia is over. Bear with me
Next month: well it’s difficult to see that far ahead, because I see only shadows).
I’m cheating a bit, but I can’t decide which early Bridget demo I should pick, so I’ll put them both here. If I have to choose the best band in the world, my choice will be The Posies. If I have to choose the band that is dearest to me, it gets a lot trickier and the end result will be a tie between The Sugarrush and Bridget. It’s impossible to decide. Maybe it’s slightly weird to be so completely in love with a band that has officially released one seven inch single plus featured on a couple of compilations, but I’ve just been totally into Bridget ever since Miettinen played Souffle from their Rusko-Mynämäki demo EP on Räkärodeo (summer of ’99 I think?). Later on Räkäpiknik I found the courage to tap the lead singer Janne Kiviniemi on the shoulder and ask if it was possible to buy the demo. A few days later Rusko-Mynämäki arrived to Keuruu and I just kept listening to it over and over again.
A couple of months later I was on my way to Turku to see Bridget, Since November and Belmondo play at Celesta Cellar(?) indiepop festival (at Dynamo) and met all those lovely Turku people that became so dear to me. That whole “Turku pop scene” (not sure were there ever really a scene, but it felt like that to me) was a huge reason why I started One Chord To Another. And even though this entry is mostly about Bridget, it was never just Bridget. All those bands like Ben’s Diapers, Since November, Boomhauer, Hundred Million Martians and Big White Monkees were/are extremely important to me. An extra special thank you to Tomi Mäkilä and Mikko Lappalainen who were always kind enough to give me a place to stay during my early visits to Turku.
The first line up Janne Kiviniemi, Saku Krappala, Janne Rinne & Jami Helmiö went on to release one truly wonderful 7″ single on Rhythm Barrel Records and featured on a couple of international pop compilations. Some years ago Bridget returned with a new line-up and the magic was still there. The first line-up is the dearest to me due to nostalgic reasons, but the new line-up made equally fantastic concerts and Heidi Horila’s harmony vocals added a new dimension to the music. I’m not sure what is the current status of Bridget, but they’ve been inactive for a year or two now. It’s a shame, because the latest pack of songs was so brilliant. These songs form an album that has criminally never been released. If I had a label, I would release it in a heartbeat. It’s such an amazingly beautiful pop album. Sure it’s a little demo-ish at times and if they had recorded it after the new line-up had really taken shape, it could have been even more perfect. But I love it even as it is now. There’s only problem. I’m ashamed to listen to it in public places. I’m afraid I look like a biological freak, because I’m aware that honey will be pouring from my ears all the time if I listen to Bridget. This next one is one of my favourite songs from that unreleased album and the song title fits well to this blog entry. A perfect way to end this first chapter of 10 years & 10 reasons. Bridget and a song called Dearest.