The Coulda-Shoulda-Woulda Files: The Sugarplastic’s Surly Sweetness

noah | December 21, 2006 5:01 am
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Time for yet another installment of the Coulda-Shoulda-Woulda Files, where we blow the dust off of a forgotten favorite and give its lack of chart success a once-over.

Artist: The Sugarplastic Album: Bang, The Earth Is Round, 1996 What happened: The Sugarplastic were signed to DGC in the mid-’90s, during that label’s post-Nirvana flush, and Bang came out in 1996. The singsongy “Polly Brown” was released as Bang‘s first radio track, but it didn’t stick in programmers’ minds, and the band landed in corporate-induced limbo. Eventually, they negotiated themselves out of their contract; they released their follow-up album three years later, and they’re still pumping out brainy, meandering pop. (They’ve even launched their own singles club.) Why it should have been a hit: Bang is, no lie, one of the greatest 99-cent bin finds we’ve ever scored, and it can probably be one of yours, too, since every promo copy was seemingly sent out to used-CD emporiums for extra burrito money. It’s full of can’t-miss hooks and just-off-kilter guitar chimes. Really, we’d post the whole thing if we could; we’re still stunned that so many music writers completely slept on it, since it seems tailor-made for their pure pop sensibilities. Maybe it was the king-throwing-a-tantrum cover art?

The Sugarplastic – Another Myself [MP3, link expired] The Sugarplastic – Don’t Sleep [MP3, link expired] The Sugarplastic – Polly Brown [MP3, link expired] The Sugarplastic [Official site]

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