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Breakout indie rockers Sugarmen have released ‘Live Freaks’ a fizzing live rendition of their feisty and formidable debut ‘Local Freaks’.
The release was recorded on September 21st at The Foundry, Sheffield when Sugarmen supported seminal alt-rockers The Jesus And Mary Chain. The raw energy that such an opportunity afforded Sugarmen is lovingly bottled on ‘Live Freaks’ – shake well before consuming!
Kicking up dirt in the warehouses and industrial practice spaces of Liverpool, Sugarmen’s sound thrives far more on the grit, gristle and grins of big cities’ darkest corners than the bright and breezy world of the Beat generation. Forget what you know about their hometown’s musical legacy – ‘the B-word’ has no place amongst the eccentric, individualists’ world of their debut album Local Freaks.
Championed by Radio 1’s Huw Stephens, Local Freaks is testament to its creators’ forward-moving mindset. Buoyed by the wry attitude of Parquet Courts, Local Freaks finds Sugarmen embracing that same Transatlantic appeal which first grabbed Luke’s attention all those years ago.
The bounce of Brit-rock’s greats fused with the icy-cool of Interpol and The Strokes’ earliest days, that storytelling focus takes centre stage. “I like the fact that those bands are about a certain part of New York – a hub of people, and the underground scene,” Luke says – a spirit that Local Freaks makes its own, not least through the spirited beach-pop of ‘Kool-Aid’, Chay’s own ode to the “grass is always greener” mentality of their view on the US – “That angsty teenager feeling of, ‘I hate it here – I’d fit in better in New York with all the freaks!’,” he laughs.
The duality at the heart of Sugarmen and Local Freaks is the group’s greatest asset – Transatlantic cool meets British spirit; a message of unity meets an embracing of individual weirdness. Ultimately though there’s a collective strength at its heart – “you’re fucked, but we’re all fucked, so it’s fine!” laughs Luke.