The Sugarcubes - Stick Around For Joy

The last of the Sugarcubes' three albums, before Björk became a superstar, was thankfully a step back up from the uninspired mess of "Here Today...". It's still got that chaotic twitchy pop sound, but they've managed to get back some of the songwriting inspiration that they'd lost. It had a lot of success on the back of a pleasingly perky love song "Hit", whose confident title turned out to be accurate. Other highlights include "Gold", and the acrobatically-sung "Leash Called Love". "Hetero Scum" has a frightfully queer title, but a great upwardly-driving chorus. "Chihuahua" is a welcome return to inspired craziness. There's a few ordinary songs to fill in the gaps, but it doesn't drag or irritate at any stage. Even Einar Orn's ranting is tolerable. But "Life's Too Good" still remains the only Sugarcubes album that's a must-get.

July 30, 2004

6 out of 10

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