About Me
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"We want it all,
to be able to stand and fall
and shout out our doubt
and when the sun goes down we stay out.
And songs will be sung
in the park by us the young"
(From the song "She")
As statements of intent go, its a classic. But then theres little about SUGARPLUM FAIRY that cant be described as classic. This is a band who revel in the concept: classic attitude, classic style, classic cheekbones, and, naturally, classic music. There are software programmes now employed by producers and record companies designed to recognise what makes a song a hit. But with SUGARPLUM FAIRY its instinctive, as their second album FIRST ROUND FIRST MINUTE proves definitively.The bands name is deceptive, one that initially seems inappropriate for a band that make such masculine, strident music. But as Beatles fanatics will know its a nod to their heroes: John Lennon counts in A Day In The Life with the words One, Two, Sugarplum Fairy The band grew up on the Fab Four, The Rolling Stones, The Who the great British bands of the 1960s whose records dominated the music collections of SUGARPLUM FAIRYs parents. In Borlänge, Sweden, where they lived, there wasnt much to do except play football or turn up the stereo, and these definitive examples of rock n roll set the bar for kids who aspired to escape this small industrial town. The arrival in the early 90s of Oasis, a band they could finally call their own rather than their parents, proved to them once more that there was a magical formula, elusive to many, that encapsulated all that was great about music. SUGARPLUM FAIRY set about discovering what it is.By the time they released their debut EP in August 2004, Stay Young, theyd cracked it. Brothers Victor (Vocals, Bass) and Carl Norén (Vocals and Guitar), alongside Kristian Gidlund (Drums), David Hebert (Bass, Organ) and Jonas Karlsson (Lead Guitar), announced their arrival with four defiantly classic rock songs, reminiscent of the bands they idolised and yet still very much their own. The title of the EP was prescient: theyd not even reached their twenties. Stay Young stormed the Swedish charts, its snotty, youthful vigour belying a confidence rarely justified. But there was more to come, as the release of follow up single, Sweet Jackie which followed Stay Young into the charts and their debut album, Young & Armed, demonstrated. Overloaded with anthems, it was unstoppable, their monumental melodies proving irresistible to crowds across Europe, Scandinavia and Japan. The hours spent practicing in a garage through their teens, endlessly riffing on Oasis Live Forever until theyd discovered the secret to its genius, had paid off.FIRST ROUND FIRST MINUTE takes things even further. It displays a belief in themselves that most bands fail to exhibit throughout their entire career. Despite undeniable pride in their debut we couldnt have made it better, they say they still wanted to improve upon it, and set about the task with the benefit of their experiences on the road and consequent wider horizons. Many things were different to how theyd been when the band started: three of them now lived in Stockholm, theyd seen their music embraced by people of many different nations, and they had lived through the kind of madness that only happens to bands. So much weird stuff happens on tour, Victor laughs disbelievingly. We played a show in a small town where a lion cage was placed on the stage with us! There was also a guy in the audience with a wolf. It was pretty strange.But of course there were simpler reasons why they had to move forward musically. The new album is different in the way that we have changed as people, they explain. You develop a lot from the age of 18 to 20, or 20 to 22. You see everything in a different way. This album is like the first album, but much better in every way. The age of YOUNG & ARMED was 18-20. But the age of FIRST ROUND FIRST MINUTE is 20-22. This band is not a teenager anymore.The band approached the writing process slightly differently this time around. During the writing of YOUNG & ARMED Victor and Carl worked separately but this time around, they state, we wanted to get more of a band vibe so we hooked up more. We worked more as a team, and even wrote some stuff together. We wrote songs like it was the end of the world and we needed to get everything out. The last songs were written over five years, whereas these songs were mainly written in our apartments and on the tourbus from the period that we released YOUNG & ARMED up until we started recording. Thats a period of only one and a half years.Their ambitions were clear. We wanted to make SUGARPLUM FAIRY bigger and better than before. And they make no bones about the results. We feel this album could make us so much bigger because its so much better. The title encapsulates their self belief. Its a reference to Mohammed Ali. In a way a good album or a good song is like a K.O. first round, first minute in a boxing match. You know the first time you hear it that youll love this music for a very long time.FIRST ROUND FIRST MINUTE is packed with knockout moments, the band taking on grand topics like love gone bad, revenge and loss of identity beneath the surface of their seismic, guitar-heavy approach: the bubblegum pop at the core of Shes relentlessly clipped tones sounds almost like The Strokes taking on Motown while Visible Karma subtly recalls the Liverpool pioneers experiments with Eastern instrumentation; Last Chance breathlessly combines Clash riffery with a compulsive melody and Illusions Of Conclusion offers a triumphant but playful swagger. It Takes Time, It Takes Two even manages to sound like Ziggy Stardust as performed by The Monkees definitely a good thing. And on top of all this, they can still pull off a tender and heartbreaking ballad like My Saviour, My Secret.There are maybe some who complain that bands like SUGARPLUM FAIRY, much like their idols Oasis, merely recycle old ideas, but the band holds such disbelievers in contempt. Those people dont understand music, they assert. Its not about what kind of tool you use, its about the songs. If we took out all the guitars and brought in synthesisers and weird sounds people might say that its fresh. But its still the same songs! We dont listen to sounds. We listen to songs.Any who still doubt the power of SUGARPLUM FAIRYs rock n roll need only catch them live to witness the ferocity and excitement at the heart of one of their shows: its blatant proof of their staggeringly charismatic catalogue and musical chemistry. Conversion is inevitable: this band never fails to win over disbelievers. Theres an apocryphal story from the album recording sessions that illustrates this, albeit in an unusual way. As they worked at Stockholms Cosmos Studio with Ollie Olsson and Henrik The Fox Edenhed, they attracted the unwelcome attention of a gang of teenage thugs from the suburbs of the city. They wanted to kick our ass, Victor smiles. But by the end of the album sessions, SUGARPLUM FAIRY had once again proved that they could soften even the hardest hearts. We actually became friends and played football with them every night!On the evidence of FIRST ROUND FIRST MINUTE its only a matter of time before, as the sun sets, SUGARPLUM FAIRYs songs are sung in parks across the world. These five young men from the little known town of Borlänge may not have long to wait before they can, indeed, have it all. Classic stuff, without a doubt
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