Sugarcult Palm Trees & Power Lines CD - Import

California pop punks Sugarcult released the album PALM TREES & POWER LINES in 2004. Tracks include "Memory" and "Destination Anywhere."

Sugarcult's debut album was an energetic slice of alternative-rock-flavored power-pop that also paid passing tribute to the band's Southern California punk-tinged brethren. With PALM TREES AND POWER LINES, the group introduces a more layered, varied sound, while still retaining enough hooks to fill a tackle box. While the sweetly melancholy "Back to California" uses a touch of trip-hop, "Destination Anywhere" recalls the driving drama of U2's "Bullet the Blue Sky." The album's final track, "Sign Off," is a disarmingly honest acoustic guitar-based look at suicide that hearkens back to the Husker Du classic "Hardly Getting Over It" (from CANDY APPLE GREY). Of course, Sugarcult's bread and butter is the huge, soaring, Nirvana-esque power chorus, and fans will be pleased to know that PALM TREES AND POWER LINES will keep them humming long after the disc stops spinning.

Sugarcult's 2001 debut, Start Static, had its share of filler, but the band that brought listeners "Stuck in America" and "Bouncing Off the Walls" certainly understood the power and marketability of shoutable choruses and giddy hooks played loud. Palm Trees and Power Lines, their sophomore major-label effort, might not be as direct, meaning they want to trade a bit of the bubblegum for some mall-punk songwriting cred. Its formula -- a clutch of upbeat rockers paced out with a few girlfriend-pleasing ballads -- is exactly the same, so the album will still please most of Sugarcult's Warped Tour constituency. But there's a sense that its hooks are more murky, that perhaps the bandmembers are aiming for some "seriousness" this time around. "Champagne" could be about the perils of celebrity overconsumption; its cleaned-up Nirvana vocals carry over to the cleansed So-Cal punk of "What You Say." "She's the Blade" mixes some minor chords into its tale of backstabbing romance, but is still guided by giddy pick slides and a head-bouncing singalong chorus. Even lead single "Memory" nixes the full-on anthemic antics of blink-182, instead co-opting the faceless, vaguely punk-influenced hard rock model of, say, American Hi-Fi. This is what makes Palm Trees a bit strange. It includes the melodrama of "Back to California," and consistently dials back the giddiness that defined Static. Luckily, whether through its thick, glossy production or the band's own desire to make the kids happy -- not make them think -- Sugarcult keep Palm Trees on a mostly enjoyable track. All groups deserve the chance to stretch their songwriting chops a bit, and Sugarcult do here, but they know their niche is in direct guitar chops and inclusionary lyrics. "All I want to do/Is lie in bed with you," they sing in "Worst December," and even if you can't figure out what the song's supposed to be -- is it punk? Is it pop? Is it Toad the Wet Sprocket covering Jawbreaker? -- it probably works just fine for the kids. In the end, after their dalliance with Being Serious, Sugarcult are thankfully more concerned with pleasing the crowd than making a statement. [A Japanese version added a bonus track.] ~ Johnny Loftus

Japanese edition includes an extra song.

CD contains 1 bonus track.

Japanese release featuring a bonus track

Recorded at Full Kilt Studio and Third Stone Recording, North Hollywood, California.

Sugarcult: Tim Pagnotta (vocals, guitar); Airin (vocals, bass); Marko 72 (guitar); Kenny Livingston (drums).

Additional personnel: Alain Johannes (guitar); John Nooney, Ariel Rectshaid (keyboards); Trent Slatton (programming); Tim Cullen (background vocals).

This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. The Enhanced content includes Xingtone ringtone creation software.Entertainment Weekly (No. 761, p.80) - "[W]istful alt-rock with killer three-part vocal harmonies." - Rating: B