Sugarcubes "Life's too good"

"Life's too good" is the masterpiece, the most brilliant piece of work that ever came out of Sugarcubes. It brings the listener an interesting combination between commercial pop, jazz, echoes from the Icelandic punk-scene where all the band-members have their roots and inimitable vocalizations from both Björk and Einar. With songs such as "Traitor", "Coldsweat" and "Deus", all familiar to my earlier description, this album is also their most promising when it comes to song-writing. The guitar-sounds at both "Traitor" and "Sick for toys", two of the punkier tracks at this album reminds me a lot of U2 vintage 1983. This album also brings you the simple but atmospherically beautiful "Birthday", the song that got Sugarcubes hailed as "The best band since The Smiths". "Motorcrash" and "Blue eyed pop" are both musically ordinary pop-songs but they give Björk a chance to use her extremely beautiful voice the most incredible ways. No song at "Life's too good" can be hailed as "one I can't stand". Even such a song as "Delicious demon", that's not very much to be proud over when it comes to song-writing sounds good at this album 'cause it brings the listener incredibly beautiful vocal-efforts from Björk.

Many of Sugarcubes' lyrics are interesting 'cause they mix irony and poetry. That doesn't necessary mean they're always great. When it comes to the lyrics at this album then there's one song that says it all and that song is called "F***ing in rhythm and sorrow". Musically it's an impression of jazz from the 50ths and not very typical for the album. The lyrics are about a woman trying to convince a suicidal man not to kill himself. What I'm trying to say is that all the lyrics at this album are about life. "Blue eyed pop" is one life's greatest passions, "Motorcrash" is about an accident, "Traitor" is about a case of death and "Deus" is about a meeting with God. The thing that's interesting with it all is the fact that it's the subject life from a completely different view than let's say Pearl Jam or Morrissey. Sugarcubes' way to view life is much more positive, almost child-like. Your first impression of Sugarcubes after listening through the lyrics to a song like "Sick for toys" once is that they're extremely naive. I mean, that song just got to be meant as a joke and it's in situations like that one you think they're making parody of themselves, the listener and the British pop-press who first hailed them as "The best band since The Smiths" and then "B-52's from hell" at the same time.

There's a feeling of pop coming from the 80ths that follows the listener all the way through "Life's too good". Please don't get me wrong, it's really good pop from the 80ths. It's not often you find an album with as much energy as this one. If I should compare it to any other album from 1988 then the only albums worth challenging it should be U2's "Rattle and hum" and R.E.M.'s "Green". If you don't own this album already then buy it and please don't regard it as a tip, regard it as an order.