Sugar

Bob Mould’s grunge-power-pop outfit Sugar burned brightly in the ’90s with their hooky, heart-on-sleeve songs. Following the 1987 breakup of his trailblazing punk band Hüsker Dü, Mould released two solo albums, but neither performed well and his label dropped him. He formed Sugar with bassist David Barbe and drummer Malcolm Travis in 1992, and the trio released their debut, Copper Blue, later that year. A critical success that rode the early-’90s alt-rock wave with the fuzzed-out “Helpless” and the jangly “If I Can’t Change Your Mind”, Copper Blue remains one of that era’s best fusions of grunge’s textures and pop’s giddy appeal. Sugar followed that with the ferocious EP Beaster in 1993; the next year, the trio released their second and final studio album, File Under: Easy Listening, which bridged the gap between the hooks of Copper Blue and the snarl of Beaster. Sugar released the odds-and-sods compilation Besides in 1995, and Mould broke up the band the following spring. He spent the following years releasing solo material and DJing, but he played a series of shows honouring Copper Blue’s 20th anniversary in 2012.