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
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