Album Review: Sugar Army - Summertime Heavy

Sugar Army brags of a new working dynamic. This is clear as the new-look three-piece delve through some interesting ground, emotionally and musically, with their second record. Last year's loss of bass guitarist Ian Berney impacted on the creativity of the Perth-based rock act, with the experimentation of Summertime Heavy mashing sounds fans love with some cool new tricks.

From the get go, it is clear the record is more refined than the debut The Parallels Amongst Ourselves. The rock sound is not replaced, but brightened and cleaned for a more crisp sound. Opener, Future Spark, sets the tone for the remainder of the album: a brainchild meshing the usual heavy bass and soaring guitar with meaningful (and audible) lyrics. The band admits the album is more introspective, most clear in In Comes Light - a catchy guitar-driven track dealing with a stale relationship (“We stopped talking just for fun/We wonder where the excitement has gone”).

There may have been risk that the recurring structure and repetitive chorus of most songs would also become stale, but fans will be blinded by the perfect mixture of lyric and musicality. In the same way, the track list has been ordered effectively to avoid repeating oneself; spinning guitar is awesomely placed alongside sweet ambient additions, most notably the title track Summertime Heavy which contains a chorus that Moby's Play could lay claim to. Reverb is used to effect, guitars continue to rise above all, and now, lyrics are heartfelt and leave their mark.