Album Review: Nic Cester – Sugar Rush


Sugar Rush



When posed with the question of what to do next, Nic Cester definitely isn’t someone who’d answer ‘if it ain’t broke why fix it’.

Instead, he’s attacking the question with a jackhammer. Jet were great, in so many ways. Their obsession with The Stones and The Faces meant everyone always knew exactly what to expect – dirty, laconic, bluesy rock and roll every single time. Rock came as standard.

Sugar Rush, as the name suggests, is not dirty or bluesy, and it’s rarely just rock and roll. What it is, is an insanely flirty dash through modern retro-soul, filled with a lot more pop than we might have expected from someone so steeped in trad rock stylings.

The title-track does start close to home however, if anything with a hint that Cester’s stomp might be taking a heavier, almost Rival Sons direction. Sugar Rush has a pretty classic rock freak-out feel, with hints of Dr John’s Gumbo soul and flashes of Traffic and Cream. It’s all afro-beats, backing oohs and soaring guitars. And it’s everything everyone’s come to love about Cester. So far so good. But from here, all bets are off.

Eyes On The Horizon is bubblegum pop. Jangly, soulful, 70s summer bubblegum pop to be precise. It feels more like Duffy or Mark Ronson or some fresh faced neo-soul popster than a roots-rock star. Psichebello, on the other hand, is a little rockier with a recognisable rock rhythm, only here paired with a very poppy vocal.

Hard Times also seems to be playing with recognisable rock rhythms. Initially, it sounds like Cester’s channelling The Beatles’ Don’t Let Me Down, but it’s slightly askew, leaving as more reminiscent of Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed, which is no bad thing. If anything this turns what in lesser hands would be familiar ground into a wonderful new experience.

Who You Think You Are switches styles yet again. This is pure disco through a pop prism. Think La Roux’s Uptight Downtown or The Gossip’s Love Long Distance. There is a lightness and freshness found nowhere else on the album, but this lighter tone does not mean less fun.

At this point, Sugar Rush pulls an incredible 180 shift; On Top Of The World starts it off with a blast of haunting orchestral drama, Scott Walker, only a lot less theatrical. With God Knows, the switch from light to dark is completed. A dripping slice of hot buttered soul, God Knows is an all guns blazing shouter, the album’s defining moment. Not Fooling Anyone then turns the album on its axis again; big beats, bigger vocals, very twinkly pianos. It’s like the theme from The Saint or The Ipcress File has been sampled by The Heavy.

Little Things is a wonderfully inspired piece of 70s soundtracking, perfectly pitched Isaac Hayes guitar licks and blaxploitation stylings. The funky, staccato rhythms and breathy vocals on Neon Light, meanwhile, are brilliantly punctured by bursts of soul which make for a fantastic few minutes. It’s as seedy and exciting as the title suggests.



Walk On is a curious closer. The track itself plays with form in a tight space, really just a short build to a bloody big chorus that comes out of nowhere. It’s an unusual few minutes but is perfectly crafted at every point, and when it finally takes off, it’s explosive.

Sugar Rush, at every point, plays with expectations and then smashes them. Teasing with a little of what we think we know, and then hitting with both feet firmly in the chest. It isn’t a rock record by a rock singer, it’s a pop record by a soul singer. Unexpected it may be, unwelcome it is not.

This album works because it seems to surprise even itself with what it has up its sleeve. And that’s not something many artist can boast, which is a shame for them, but great news for Sugar Rush.

(Dylan Llewellyn-Nunes)


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One Response

  1. Lp 16 August, 2018