Joe Algeri is an Australian singer-songwriter and the leader of the Perth power pop cult act Jack And The Beanstalk. For the past three years he has, following the footsteps of one of his greatest heroes Lee Hazlewood, lived in Stockholm, Sweden and also visited Finland, the home of Rhythm Barrel Records, a couple of times to play a few shows with the pop band Ben's Diapers.

At one of those gigs, he got to witness a fantastically energetic and characteristically tongue-in-cheek set by the Finnish power pop four-man trio The Sugarrush. Having fell in love with the band immediately, Algeri was stunned to learn that the Sugarrush's bassist/singer Coma had already written and recorded a song about him, a short acoustic ditty called Three Chords For Joe, inspired by a previous performance that Coma had seen by Joe. Joe decided to return the favour and wrote a song titled Sugar Rush which, while not being strictly about the band, perfectly completes this story of a pure mutual love situation. Rhythm Barrel Records simply could not resist putting these songs on a split single, supported by new, unreleased songs from both artists.

While one might think there's not much in common with these two artists, there actually is a lot. They both love classic 60's pop, simplistic bubblegum punk, goofy lyrics, acoustic country/folk and they share a trust in sheer good old intuition - a great example of which is this very EP!

On his side of the vinyl Algeri continues to blend 60's style retro pop with Hazlewood/Gram Parsons-vibey acoustic expression, a style already familiar from the previous Jack And The Beanstalk release on Rhythm Barrel, Vodka Line EP, and his solo album Everything Under The Sun. On Sugar Rush Algeri is joined by Mikko and Jaakko from the Finnish band Ben's Diapers and Colman from the Spanish band Insanity Wave.

The two songs on The Sugarrush's side also introduce the two faces of the band: the quiet, acoustic one as well as the frantically rocking one. Summer Love is another contribution to the string of catchy, melodic and punky power pop anthems that the band has produced over the years, while Three Chords For Joe catches the band at its most sincere.

www.thesugarrush.com
www.geocities.com/algerij