065: Sugar - Copper Blue (1992)
“The last thing I wanted to do was re-create Hüsker Dü with other people. It would have been flimsy, and people would've seen through it.”
—Bob Mould
Can you hear those towering walls of amped-up guitars in our latest episode, accompanied by aching lyrics you can barely hear? That’s because we’ve loaded it with Sugar! After pioneering alternative rock in the hardcore punk band Hüsker Dü, frontman and guitarist Bob Mould briefly went solo, then formed a new power trio named after a stray packet of sugar that caught his eye while eating at a Waffle House. (This naming convention would not be repeated until the 2000 Hootie & the Blowfish covers album Scattered, Smothered and Covered.) Sugar’s high-decibel, disarmingly sincere brand of power pop has always made the band Will’s preferred branch of the Mouldverse, and this week he’s joined by Ben, Will, and special guest Scott Floman to discuss their 1992 masterpiece Copper Blue.
Miscellany
A few years back, Merge Records released remastered deluxe editions of Copper Blue/Beaster and File Under: Easy Listening. They do indeed sound somewhat better, and there's a generous complement of bonus tracks on each set. They're great packages. But from a fiscal standpoint, it's tough to recommend the reissues when the originals sound just fine and can be found in the “please take these off our hands” bin in every record store in the world.
Regarding the airy loudness of those early masters, D&R producer Mike DeFabio says that this sound is an artifact of the early compact disc era, and nobody really got CD mastering right until around 1995. To wit, Bob Mould told MusicRadar in 2012, “We were trying to fit a lot of information into a stereo mix. So when I put the tapes back up and listened to them sort of flat again, I thought, Wow, mastering has come a long way! We can do a lot more to this now.”
Will hadn't considered Scott's intepretation of “A Good Idea” as a song that describes a third party witnessing an assisted suicide, but he’s been pondering it since the recording and would like to hear from anyone who has a theory. Will adds: “I'm going to be thinking about it a lot (and admittedly, possibly more than Mould did), and trying to work out the way the song's pronouns leap back and forth, between whether the male in the couple is one claiming credit for the good idea. Again, there is a very real possibility that this is Mr. Mould doing a fine impression of Pixies' Black Francis in his cheerful bloodlust.”
Rich hadn’t done his solo Bob Mould homework before recording, but if he had, he would have recommended Mould’s 2019 album Sunshine Rock, which is a remarkably solid album, especially coming this far into Mould’s career. You can buy it and the rest of his catalogue (including Hüsker Dü and Sugar) at bobmould.com.
Amanda wishes to note that "If I Can't Change Your Mind" reminds her specifically of "That Thing You Do," although "Hey Julie" is also a good comparison.
The cold open draws heavily from the sixth-season Simpsons episode “Lisa’s Rival,” which features a subplot where Homer finds a giant pile of sugar.
For more Yes, this time in its proper context, please consult our 25th episode, a double feature on The Yes Album and Drama featuring Dave Weigel.
Other links
Bob Mould’s official website (BobMould.com)
Buy See a Little Light, Bob Mould’s autobiography (Amazon affiliate link)
Buy Scott’s book, The Story of Rock and Soul Music (Amazon affiliate link)
Listen to Scott’s podcast, Music Nerds Unite (Anchor.fm)
Bob Mould on Copper Blue's 20th anniversary (Grant McDougall, TheQuietus.com)
Discord & Rhyme’s Copper Blue playlist (Spotify)
Discord & Rhyme Roll Call
Chris Willie Williams (host)
Rich Bunnell (moderator)
Ben Marlin
Scott Floman (special guest)
Copper Blue tracklist
The Act We Act
A Good Idea
Changes
Helpless
Hoover Dam
The Slim
If I Can't Change Your Mind
Fortune Teller
Slick
Man on the Moon
Other clips used
Sugar:
Tilted
Gee Angel
Come Around
Your Favorite Thing
Feeling Better
Other Bob Mould projects:
Hüsker Dü - Something I Learned Today
Hüsker Dü - Eight Miles High
Bob Mould - Wishing Well
Bob Mould - The End of Things
Hüsker Dü - Standing in the Rain
Others:
Pixies - Debaser
“Weird Al” Yankovic - First World Problems
Yes - Changes
Fountains of Wayne - Hey Julie
Yes - Fortune Seller
Yes - Man in the Moon
My Bloody Valentine - I Only Said
The Archies - Sugar, Sugar
Band/album personnel
Bob Mould - guitars, vocals, keyboards, percussion, production, engineering
David Barbe - bass
Malcolm Travis - drums, percussion
Lou Giordano - production, engineering
Tom Bender - mixing
Howie Weinberg - mastering
Credits
“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of:
Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf
Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste
The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
Herbie Hancock - Hornets
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen
Sugar - Slick (this episode only)
You can buy or stream Copper Blue and other albums by Sugar at bobmould.com, your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and be ever wonderful.