Bang, The Earth Is Round

Real Groove
September 1996

Sugarplastic Bang the Earth Is Round (Geffen) In a word Sugarplastic's major label debut is fun. Bang, the Earth is Round is chock full of great songs: original, smart, musical ditties that seem on first listening like such a breath of fresh air from the posturing, clichéd rock we have become so accustomed to. Yet I still can't help but feel this record won't mean mush a year down the track. The reason is simple: nerd rock, no matter how good, doesn't age well. Tell the truth - how often do you play that Devo disc, that Talking Heads record, or that Weezer tape? If the answer to any of those questions is "frequently" then plonk down the bucks for Sugarplastic's opus. But if Devo, et al are seldom heard on your stereo even when it's only you at home, borrow Bang, the Earth is Round from a friend. Probably the most compelling reason to buy this disc if you've had it with predictable rock is that the only track on it that doesn't work is one done in a rock vein called Montebello. Enough said. Listen instead to Little Teeth, a pop nursery rhyme almost the equal of Bob Dylan's kid's bedtime story In the Beginning or Polly Brown, an ode to an unobtainable girl that Buddy Holly would be proud to call his own, and you'd be a bastard not to give Sugarplastic their due. Maybe, it's the stigma of occasionally being called a nerd that still stings, but once we all get past it, life and neglected records will seem a lot better. Hamish Withers

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