28 — Wednesday, February 21, 1990 - North shore News music Ria Iceland’s Sugar Cubes deliver creative nourishment N THE Sugar Cubes’ latest, there is a simple song called Eat The Menu. A hungry man is in a restau- rant. He must fill the void in his stomach. He is presented with a plethora of food choices and is over- whelmed. The absurd thread of words Orn pins the mission: “We're shouted out by Einar Orn at the just trying to tell little stories. 1 tap of the tune — limousines, believe us, the people in the Sugar oranges, stars, moons, submarines, Cubes, we are among the last jeeps. glaciers, cars, caterpillars, people of the generation before even grapes — sets up a specific video. People told us stories. We narrative context and also pro- were not put in front of the video vides a clue to the band’s way of machine to shut up.” thinking. This little story returns to Ear The In musical terms, Iceland's Sugar = Menu. Orn: “‘If Thad a child, | Cubes turn experiential overload would say what happened when | into Creative nourishment, MICHAEL BECKER record review digesting diversity, gobbling up bits of this and that and transform- ing it into tight energy. The resultant sound is sophisticated, college-radio friend- ly and swings unexpectedly thanks to the perverse timing and phras- ing of singer Bjork Gudmundsdot- tir, Explains Sugar Cubes singer and trumpeter Orn, on line from Los Angeles, ‘‘l would describe our music as Sugar Cubes. ff I was to say it sounded like the B-52's and Chuck Berry having sex, then | would be lying. People are always supposed to sound this or that way and our attitude is that we don’t sound any way. It doesn’t matter if you call it jazz or blues — our his- tory is rock ‘n’ roll. Of course we've got our silly rules about the way we work. We appreciate each other’s input and so we're free to do what we want to do. We're a fascist democracy.” The Sugar Cubes’ wellspring traces back to 1986, when a group of disgruntled and ar- tistically-inclined Icelanders form- ed a company called Bad Taste. Sykurmolarnir (Sugar Cubes) became the musical division. Orn, a fellow who lays claim to aB.A. honors degree in meteor studies, came to the Sugar Cubes via a group called (caution on the consonants) Purrkur Pillnikk and later KUKL with Bjork and Cubes bass player Sigtryggur Baldursson. Squared away as a Sugar Cube, PRUNING DEMONSTRATION Fruit Trees & Roses 1-3 PM SAT. 24 FEB. (no charge) RB AMS, DYKHOF NURSERIES 460 Mountain Hwy. 985-1914 was still with the Sugar Cubes and Iwent into a restaurant and | couldn’t decide what I wanted to eat. And then they would say. ‘Dad, well is it true?’ And i would say, ‘Nothing is true honey.” Ail things considered, the Sugar Cubes will be at the Commodore with the Primitives, Friday, Feb. 23. wees THE PALADINS, rough ‘n’ tumble San Diego practitioners of that amorphous groove tagged Ameri- can Roots Music, are primed to wreak rock ‘n’ roll rumpus at 86 Street Music Hall with Omar and the Howlers Friday, Feb. 23. The band has a knack tor resur- recting old and obscure blues and rock numbers and meking them their own. Paladins singer-puitarist Dave Gonzales and bass player Tom Yearsley are also cupable writers in their own right. The delivery, a blend of country, blues and tough rockabilly, takes full advantage of the taut force of will generated by three road-tested (200 gigs a year) musicians bound by common purpose. Said Gonzales, swacked on puitar ever since first picking up a chord and plugging into his dad’s ald hi-tias a seventh grader, “We're trying to spread this gos- pel of this real American music around. tt’s kind of bluesy because we are on a blues label (Alligator), bul we try to cross over and play more rock. We call our music roots rock. There’s so much blues in ali of rock ‘n’ roll, because that’s where it all comes from. When | hear Muddy Waters sing- ing | Want To Put A Tiger In Your Tank, to me that’s rock ‘n’ roll.’ A roots-rocking new Paladins release produced by Los Lobos sax player Steve Berlin, Let’s Buzz, is due for release next month. CARRIERS | winners! SUNDAY - WEONESDAY + FRIDAY Our carriers are You can be too! Here’s how: Join the North Shore News carrier team. You could be earning good money deliver- ing the newspaper one to three times a week and at the same time be accumulating chances to win great prizes. It’s not too late to enter the Carrier ‘‘All-Star’’ sweepstakes. We will be awarding monthly bonus prizes as well as grand prizes including Nintendo® Control Decks, Mountain Bikes and more. The biggest prize is a family trip to Disneyland — all expenses paid. Call us today. You could be earning good money and participating in the sweepstakes by next week. DISTRIBUTION 986-1337 THE VOICE OF NORTH AND WEST VANCOUVER north shore.