Sugar – Tilted

As most of you know, I’m a huge Replacements fan and the Minneapolis Music Scene they came from in the 1980s. The one band I haven’t listened to enough from that scene was Hüsker Dü formed by Bob Mould. I’ve seen and heard more of his solo career than I’ve heard from either one of his bands. He covers a lot of ground…from punk rock to power pop. 

He formed Hüsker Dü with drummer Grant Hart and bassist Greg Norton. At first, they were just another punk band, but something was different…Mould and Hart were more punk/pop songwriters. They had a melodic edge to their punk sound. 

Hüsker Dü split up in 1988. Mould’s first solo outing, Workbook, in 1989, took a different turn. Unlike his previous band, it featured acoustic-driven songs. In 1992, he formed Sugar with David Barbe (bassist) and Malcolm Travis (drummer), a trio in which he could release his aggressive music with a little more polish and refinement.

I can see why Husker Du might not have regularly made the charts, but this band gave you a little bit of everything. Their songs were catchy and good. 

This song came out in 1993 on their second album Beaster. It came out of the same recording sessions as their debut album, Copper Blue, but had a darker, heavier, and more intense sound. Mould has said that he didn’t expect Beaster to be as widely embraced as Copper Blue but was pleased that fans appreciated it.

Beaster peaked at #130 on the Billboard Charts, #18 in New Zealand, and #3 in the UK in 1993. Tilted peaked at #48 in the UK. 

This song is another off of Beaster called Come Around. 

Tilted

I only do these things to freak you out
I never wanted you to doubt me
I believe you/ Do I believe you
I try to block you out to hear myself
I can’t believe I’m thinking to myself
Would I leave you/ In such suspense

I let it go and go and go
But what you’re thinking through the silence
I really wish you understood
A couple of words get so much mileage

I never felt an urge to say a word
I’d rather listen to the din of
Other people closing in one me/ I lay in bed
And think of words that you should hear
I fall asleep and then they disappear
A fall from grace/ From memory

I hear a voice inside the silence
Speak your peace and all’s forgotten
I hear the static on the line
Remember how this all got started

Remember/ Remember/ It’s tilted

I turn away a minute disappears
I turn away in shame when I don’t hear
What you’re thinking/ Tell me what you’re thinking
You take it out on me
You’re not flaking out on me, are you
Turn it tilted/ Hey wait a minute

I never wanted you to be upset
But I can see you’re trying to forget
What was said/ What was said
Don’t try to hang me up again
Don’t try to hang up on me wait up

Turn it tilted/ I need help it’s

Remember/ Remember/ It’s tilted

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

27 thoughts on “Sugar – Tilted”

  3. Now you’re Talkin’! I love Sugar, though curiously you nearly had me stumped on this one…I still have the two full-length albums by them but only had ‘Beaster’ briefly back then. I still can’t figure why they weren’t really big, they seemed perfect for the ’90s, but somehow they never caught on especially in their own country.

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  6. As I said to CB on the recent Bob Mould post I was aware of him and Hüsker Dü, anything after not so much. He is a talented guy. I also mentioned the Ridley Bent song “Nine Inch Nails” where HD gets mentioned.

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  8. That guitar break 2 minutes in is worth the price of admission. Love this stuff. relentless and well played. That’s power something Max. Those drums are pretty good also. It’s al about playing with Bob and the boys. You dont have to act or dress cool when you are ice cold cool. Last sentence was for John.

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    1. Relentless is the word man… yea they are so tight with each other that they don’t relent. A trio makes you work for everything.
      Thats what I really like by him…no gimmicks or crap like that.

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      1. Cant play that way unless you have the chops. Why he’s been pumping out great music and not just becoming a nostalgia gig. You are going to find some more good listening with Mould. 1537 left a comment saying he knows every syllable of the song I posted. He gets $10.

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      2. If anyone knows trios…it’s this man. I saw that! Hey people knowing a lot of these songs are real fans and deserve it all. That Minneapolis Music Scene in the 1980s was huge.

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  9. I really like Come Around, the swirling progression and the slow chant vocals. It’s a whirlpool of sound that pulls you in. Sounds familiar…I may have heard it back in the day.

    Tilted is a bit too muddled for me. It’s edgy, but it’s too middle of the road to compensate for the lack of solid hook. The drumming is awesome though.

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    1. Pam…Come Around is the original song I made this about but I wanted something with a little more lyrics so I just did both. I do like it better though than Tilted.

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  10. While thanks to you I’m aware of The Replacements, Hüsker Dü at this time merely are a name I’ve heard. Sugar are entirely new to me. That said, I like both songs you highlighted here. In general, when it comes to music, melody is a key element to me. A song with a great melody can go a long way, even if it’s a genre that usually falls outside my core wheelhouse.

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