FROM ICELAND: IT'S THE SUGARCUBES!
BOSTON GLOBE (BG) - FRIDAY July 29, 1988
By: Jim Sullivan, Globe Staff
Edition: THIRD  Section: ARTS AND FILM  Page: 28
Word Count: 1,524

MEMO:
ROCK NOTES

TEXT:
How   best   to  describe  the  Sugarcubes,  a  top  contender  for  1988's
out-of-the-blue and into-the-bigtime award?

   Let's  let  the  English  do  it.  England,  after  all,  took Iceland's
Sugarcubes  to  heart  before  the  United  States  had a crack. The Melody
Maker's  Steve  Sutherland described their debut LP, "Life's Too Good" this
way:  "  'Life's Too Good' offers everything I ever dreamed of, it frolicks
through  the  emotions,  marries  sense  to  nonsense, juggles with reason,
defies me to find a mood it won't fit and, if absolutely pushed to describe
itself, would probably grin and say 'Mischief.' "
   Not  to  be  outdone,  the  NME's  Barbara Ellen wrote of a show, ". . .
throughout their sparkling, manic set all eyes gravitate toward lead singer
Bjork.  Her  talent is irrefutable, but her motives might well be alarming.
Onstage,  Bjork  is  the  bad little girl who wants everything yesterday. A
tantrum  specialist, the original Pretty Baby entertaining an audience full
of 'daddies.' "

   Whew. The Sugarcubes, who make their Boston debut at Axis tonight, sound
very  good  on  record -- textural, edgy, surreal, mystical, sensual. While
happy  to  be  noticed,  the  Sugarcubes  are  a  little  wary  of all this
attention.  "We  try  not  to  contemplate  too much on that," says drummer
Siggi,  prior  to  their  first-ever US date in Washington. "It can be very
dodgy  having that big amount of press before you come here and actually do
anything."  (Siggi  has a last name, but like everyone in the group he uses
only  one.  It's  a  good idea. These are very difficult names to spell and
pronounce.)

   It's  not  as if the Sugarcubes had grand designs when they began. "This
band was never put together with the motive of even getting a record deal,"
says   Siggi,   laughing.  "The  band  was  just  having  fun,  basically."
Essentially the band is an outgrowth of KUKL, a band formed by Siggi, Bjork
and  vocalist-trumpeter  Einar.  Siggi  describes KUKL as "experimental and
quite  intense."  That  group  split  in  1986; later that year the members
formed  a  record  company,  Bad Taste Records, and says Siggi, "we decided
that  it  would be a good idea to have a silly pop band on that label so we
got  together  a name for a silly pop band called the Sugarcubes and formed
the band."

   What  effect  does  living in Iceland -- an isolated country of glaciers
and  volcanos  --  have  on  the  group? Some writers have posited that the
country's  geographical  contrasts are reflected in the band's many sounds.
"That's  part  of  what  people feel is mystic about the band," Siggi says,
"that  it  has  a special sound and it comes from that special place. But I
think  there's  less  a  direct link than people actually think. Being from
Iceland,   maybe   psychologically   contributed  to  the  sound,  but  not
geographically."

   The  Sugarcubes  songs  come  together  out  of rehearsals. "It's a very
cacophonic  thing,"  Siggi  says.  "I  see  it as you throw in all kinds of
ingredients  into  a pot, cook it up, stir it, and out comes this. And it's
different every time. We've always liked to do whatever we feel is fun each
time.  We don't have this strong sense of 'No, this doesn't sound like us.'
"
   Of  note:  Bjork  is  planning  on a collaboration with Sinead O'Connor.
(Bjork's timbre bears a relationship to O'Connor's.)

   Also  of note: Tonight's show is an early one. The Sugarcubes should hit
the stage between 9:30 and 10 p.m.
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