Bristol up-and-comers Sugar Horse have arrived with their new EP, ‘Drugs’. A sprawling, vital release that showcases the band’s rage, pop sensibilities and wit, it’s both fun and crushing in equal measure. Give it a listen in full below – and find out all about each of its five tracks, straight from the band themselves.
Drugs
We wanted to kind of turn the last EP on its head. ‘DRUJ’ was really melodic and had a kind of sparse quality to it. We wanted to make the first track on this the complete opposite of that. It needed to be a veritable breeze block. We like the surprise of the unexpected and this song is completely built around that. Twists and turns to catch anyone listening off guard, while still keeping to a kind of verse/chorus, pop song format. Spoken word bit before the second verse was recorded on my phone at work completely off the cuff. It’s my mate Dave reading a small extract from Milton’s Paradise Lost in an admittedly fed up manner. The track kind of takes a scornful look at the cronyism of modern politics through the filter of the war in heaven depicted in Paradise Lost. We wanted something really sudden and jarring to break the flow after that first chorus and we love sticking in weird little samples. It’s a trick The Fall used a bunch and I’ve always quite liked how much it really takes you entirely out of the track briefly, then slams you back into it.
Pity Party
We all love big cheesy pop songs and this is a kind of attempt at one of them I guess. A song I wrote about hazy nights out during my highly established drinking career. A kind of farewell performance or something equally as sickeningly sentimental. My partner used to call my excursions with particular friends our Pity Parties, as we’d just get wrecked and spend the whole time whinging about how shite we thought everything was. Ended up nicking it for the title, as it’s pretty apt.
Richard Branson In The Sky With Diamonds
The first track we wrote for this record. It was actually pretty much finished when we went into the studio to record DRUJ. We work pretty fast when it comes to writing. A song will normally come together in about two or three hours. We’ve had songs we’ve laboured over before, but they always end up being the crap ones. Branson started with a guitar riff Sav (drummer) had written and we kind of fucked around with it until it felt right. Lyrically it’s all bile. Just lashing out at nepotistic systems and barriers placed in front of individuals who’s quality may never truly be seen for what it’s worth. I’m an angry little bastard and shouting three-syllable lines at high volume is how I tend to attempt to exercise that.
When September Rain
This was the last track written for the record. We didn’t want another heavy one, mostly because we hate the idea of being called a metal band. Dunno why. Just makes me cringe. It’s a big soppy one about my partner. I wrote it a couple of months after finding out I was gonna be a father, so there are loads of big clunky Old Testament metaphors. Book Of Genesis, Adam & Eve, creation type stuff. This one is pretty much impossible to play live, as we’d need a massive choir and about twenty more guitars.
DogEgg
The worst title for a song we could possibly think of. Originally this was gonna be a B Side for the GakEater single we released last year. We were pretty set on that until we came to recording it. Somehow we managed to nail this in one take and the energy felt amazing in it. One of those takes where everyone just kind of widens their eyes at each other afterwards. Once the vocals went on it, it was pretty obvious it had to go on the record and the energy screamed closer. Lyrically it’s a big appeal for the end of the world, which is obviously completely outrageous of me and not at all played out. It’s a fun one. Just all piss and vinegar. One we don’t have to concentrate too hard to play, so you can just kind of lose yourself in it and hammer on open A.
