Minneapolis, MN · alt-rock · power pop · power-pop

Sugar

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Bob Mould's post-Hüsker Dü trio — melodies buried under an absolutely enormous wall of guitar, 'Copper Blue' still ringing.

Sugar was the trio Bob Mould formed in 1992, after Hüsker Dü's breakup and two solo albums, with David Barbe on bass and Malcolm Travis on drums. The three rehearsed thirty songs in the back of a tire shop in Athens, Georgia, and settled on the band's name after Mould spotted a sugar packet on a table at a Waffle House. Their first show was at the 40 Watt Club in Athens in February 1992.

The debut, Copper Blue, set clear pop melodies against thick, distorted guitar and heavy compression. NME named it its Album of the Year for 1992, and the singles "If I Can't Change Your Mind" and "Helpless" both received heavy MTV rotation, with the former reaching the UK singles chart.

Beaster, an EP drawn from the Copper Blue sessions, arrived in 1993 and pushed the sound in a harsher direction. A second album took shape more slowly; File Under: Easy Listening followed in September 1994 and reached number seven on the UK albums chart.

Sugar played its final show in Sendai, Japan, in January 1995. Barbe left to spend more time with his growing family, and Travis moved on to drum for Kustomized; a b-sides collection, Besides, appeared later that year. Mould returned to solo work, and Barbe built a career as a record producer in Athens.

After thirty years apart, the original trio reformed in October 2025, announcing shows in New York and London along with a new song, "House of Dead Memories", followed by a tour running through the UK, Europe and the US into October 2026.

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alt-rockpower poppower-pop