Sugar - House of Dead Memories 7"

 
Granary (2026)

These days, it seems like just about any band (aside from Operation Ivy) could potentially get back together provided the band members are in good health.  Because of that, I don't suppose that I was surprised to hear that Sugar was playing again, but I was definitely excited about it.  So much so that I immediately bought tickets to one of their NYC shows when they were announced.  The timing of those shows ended up not working out exactly, so I didn't end up going.  Though the way things are going, it doesn't look like that will be the only time I will get to see them as they announced a full tour and have put out this new two-song 7".

The A side is "House of Dead Memories" and it's kind of exactly what you'd expect from a Sugar song.  Upper mid tempo, gigantic guitar sounds, a driving verse that pushes into a chorus and a bridge and a little instrumental interlude with some guitar squawking.  It's pretty short, clocking in just over the two-minute mark, but it gets the job done as far as paying off the anticipation of waiting for new music for so long.

On the flip we have "Long Live Love," which if I'm being honest, mostly ticks all of those same boxes as the A side.  It's perhaps a bit more straightforward and slightly less dynamic than "House of Dead Memories," but I am absolutely not looking for Sugar to reinvent the wheel.  I want them to sound like Sugar and they mostly do.

There's nothing here that's too dissimilar to Bob Mould's solo records, which really weren't all that dissimilar to what Sugar used to do anyway.  Am I blown away? No, I'm not.  But I definitely enjoy both songs and would be eager to see them worked into a full album.  I'm hopeful that's in the cards once the touring is done.

Sugar - "House of Dead Memories":

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk5QT4r46jM

Sugar - "Long Live Love":

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=fK7khG6zPvE

Bob Mould - Here We Go Crazy LP

Granary / BMG (2025)

If you were to give an award out for the most consistent rock and roller over the past 30 years or so, one could make a really strong argument to give that award to Bob Mould.  Plain and simple, he's a guy that pretty much always puts out good records.  Sure there were some that weren't quite as great as others and the less said about his forays into electronic music, the better - but, as a whole, he's got quite the catalog.

Here We Go Crazy is his latest album and it follows his string of upbeat, aggressive rock records that he's been consistently releasing since 2012's The Silver Age.  It's just as good as any of them.  Lot's of great songs, with poignant lyrics.  Bob's definitely got a lot to say about the state of the world these days, though he does it in a way that doesn't beat you over the head with a hammer about it.  It's still a record that's enjoyable to listen to and isn't designed to bum you out so much as to maybe give you a bit of hope that we'll get through it.

If there's a negative here, it's that this record is just as good as any of the other records he's put out recently.  Again, they are all really good, but I find that most of them end up sitting on my record shelf after that initial flurry of listens because it's a new release.  I think part of the problem is that if I'm really in the mood to listen to Bob Mould, I'll probably grab on of the Sugar records or The Silver Age.  Those are the records that really connect with me.  Here We Go Crazy isn't quite at the level of those, so I have a feeling I'll probably grab it if I want to listen to Bob Mould, but for whatever reason don't feel like listening to one of my favorites.

Comparisons to other Bob Mould records aside, Here We Go Crazy is a great listen.  It's got everything I'm looking for in a Bob Mould record with no disappointments.  I'd be shocked if it didn't end up being one of my favorites of the year.  Maybe he just needs to put out a few intentionally bad records to make me appreciate how good records like this one is.  

Bob Mould - Here We Go Crazy:
https://bobmould.bandcamp.com/album/here-we-go-crazy-3