Date: Tue, 7 Mar 1995 21:18:56 -0700 (MST) From: Joe On 26 Feb Scott McGrath wrote, "Oh, I've heard of the Sugar Cubes but I have never heard the Sugar Cubes." I thought this was quite odd, someone who is a big Bjork fan, who had never heard the Sugarcubes! Well I've sure heard the Sugarcubes and since this list isn't just about Bjork, but also about the 'Cubes I thought I'd share some of the things I wrote about them when they were still around. So here's my live review of the first time I saw the Sugarcubes play on 20 Aug 1988 at Scream in Los Angeles: Behind the stage there were two neon lights shaped like a boy-cube and a girl-cube. Just like on the album cover. Thor made them. Thor is the guitarist. Throughout the show he stood motionless under his neon creations with a look of disarming intensity, lost in his guitar playing. Boy singer Einar moved all over the stage and spit out Icelandic and English words with anger and whimsy. His rough growl and biting commentary were offset by girl singer Bjork's sweet chaos. She danced, mostly a shuffle, back and forth with cute little twists and sways. Her facial expressions were animated with girlish delight. She made you wonder how a woman so tiny could sing with a voice so large. The Sugarcubes opened the show with "Sick For Toys," Bjork's acappella intro fading into the rest of the band's charging rhythms. Siggi on drums, dressed in a tutu, and sweet expressioned Bragi on bass propelled those rhythms with a firm punch. The off-center rumble of "Birthday" was balanced by Einar's hand muted trumpet and Bjork's soaring vocals. They played everything from their album, Life's Too Good, plus several new songs, many of them sung in Icelandic. Near the end of the show Einar taught the audience the cat dance--put your hands on each side of your head and make little cat ears. Then they played "Cat," their scratchy song about--oh, I can't reveal what it's about. Sly secret. Margaret, the new keyboard player, did the cat dance best. They closed with "Coldsweat," a collapsing collage of sexual fragments and cool heat. The boy-cube and the girl-cube were lit up and, although stationary, they seemed to dance. The encore was a quick blast of fast rhythms and sweat, with silly neon glasses worn by half the band. The Sugarcubes make boy pranks, girl giggles and cat noise. Thor could be a surfer. Siggi is a ballerina. Bragi is a happy little boy. Einar is the Johnny Rotten of Iceland. Bjork is a soft and fluffy kitten. Very mischievous, these Sugarcubes. I like them. The above is copyright 1988 by Joe Beine. It can be distributed on the Internet for noncommercial purposes only. Any other republication requires my persmission. Originally printed in The Album Network.