''Sugarfix'' is an album released by rock band
Dwarves in July 1993 on
Sub Pop
Sub Pop is an independent record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana (band), Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the gru ...
. It was reissued in February 1999 as a two-album CD along with the band's previous album, ''Thank Heaven for Little Girls''.
[Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 312] This was the band's last album for Sub Pop, who dropped them shortly after its release. Meant as a
practical joke
A practical joke or prank is a trick played on people, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. The perpetrat ...
, the Dwarves announced that HeWhoCannotBeNamed had been stabbed to death in a bar fight in Philadelphia in April 1993, prompting the label to issue a press release announcing his death,
["MACABRE FRAUD ONE PUNK ROCKER PULLS A DEATH STUNT, AS ANOTHER FINALLY SUCCUMBS", '']Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving Greater Pittsburgh, metropolitan Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the fi ...
'', July 2, 1993 and the album's sleeve art memorializes the supposedly dead guitarist, but it turned out to be a publicity stunt by the band, embarrassing the label.
[Sprague, David]
Dwarves
, ''Trouser Press
''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...
'', retrieved 2010-02-07[Hochman, Steve (1993) "Pop Off", '']Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'', July 4, 1993 Frontman Blag The Ripper even included an address to which Sub Pop could send flowers and condolences to the "dead" guitarist's "family."
The
mixing of ''Sugarfix'' is unique, in that the mixing of the vocals and instrumentation are about equal. ''Sugarfix'' also features
audio sampling. For example, there is jungle
stock sound effect
A stock sound effect is a prerecorded sound effect intended to be reused with an entertainment product, as opposed to Foley (filmmaking), creating a new and unique sound effect. It is intended to work within a sound effect library.
History
As fa ...
at the beginning of "Evil Primeval," and a sample of a
Southern-accented Christian Minister at the beginning of "I Wish That I Was Dead." This tradition of audio sampling was carried over on the Dwarves'
recent albums as well. Dwarves frontman Blag The Ripper values his lyrics and enjoys using sound effects in his music. When asked what he wants the Dwarves to be remembered for most, Blag says, "We'd like to be remembered as the first punk band to incorporate samples and sounds into their music long before there were samplers and shit. We'd like to be known as the first people to loop garage records and punk records
ndto be known as interesting lyricists."
Track listing
# "Anybody Out There" - 3:00
# "Evil Primeval" - 1:56
# "Reputation" - 2:19
# "Lies" - 1:38
# "Saturday Night" - 2:25
# "New Orleans" - 0:58
# "Action Man" - 0:47
# "Smack City" - 1:49
# "Cain Novacaine" - 1:55
# "Underworld" - 2:16
# "Wish That I Was Dead" - 1:42
Critical reception
David Sprague of ''Trouser Press'' saw the album as evidence that Dwarves had given up trying to shock, stating that singer Blag Dahlia "pauses only rarely to offend".
Matt Carlson of
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
gave the album a 2/5 rating, stating that the band had "nothing left to prove, or at least nothing left to shock with", while also stating that they "had matured into a cohesive punk-rock combo".
References
{{Authority control
Dwarves (band) albums
1993 albums
Sub Pop albums