 Sugarcubes The Sugarcubes are still one of the more bizarre pop groups to have emerged in the last couple of decades, and when you listen to their recordings you wonder how it is that Björk became such a big star after leaving the group … even more so considering that she arguably only got more bizarre as a solo artist. Although at the time, the Sugarcubes seemed like da bomb, hindsight has definitely relegated them to "interesting footnote" status in relation to Björk's career (I mean, the world is hardly awaiting an Einar Orn solo album with anything remotely akin to bated breath). Too much of the Sugarcubes stuff was just too weird, and what wasn't weird was usually kind of silly, though when the group was focused (the hit "Hit," plus their rowdy cover of "Motorcycle Mama"), its pop instincts could elevate the band to real greatness. "Birthday" is a great song, certainly one of their best, but it's a song I've heard too many times to get very excited about. This EP of remixes (promoting the 1992 remix album It's It, truly the last ugly gasp of the band, not to mention one of the 90s most perennial bargain bin staples) offers five different versions of the song, including the original album version, the demo, and three remixes. All the tracks are good, but as with many CD singles, this is just too much of one song. One of the remixes is dolled up as a dance number, but otherwise the rest of the mixes stay pretty close to the atmosphere of the original version, making the presence of the original version somewhat beside the point. The demo is interesting, as it is not drenched in that late 80s reverb, and it's sung in Icelandic, but really you should be a pretty serious Sugarcubes fan and/or a Björk diehard to bother with this single. I am always biased against CD singles that only feature alternate versions of the same songs. CD-era etiquette positively mandates that one or two b-sides be added, minimum, even when presenting remixes. One look in Digital Daisy's Book of CD Etiquette would tell you that!!!!! (The last sentence having weeded out 100% of my potential audience, I hereby declare that all further reviews are to be done only with myself in mind. Surely, no difference will be noted by the readership.)
Review by Ulysses Wiegand |