Bob Mould's Sugar reissues due

Merge Records will reissue the catalog of Bob Mould's post-Husker Du group Sugar on July 24. 

Mac McCaughan of Superchunk and Merge has this to say recently about the band's catalog in a press release:

"When word went around that Bob Mould had new band, not only a "band" band (as opposed to hired band to play his solo albums on tour) but also a trio, of course anyone raised from teenhood on punk rock and Husker Du in particular (like myself) went into high expectation mode.

"Copper Blue turned out to be a distillation of Bob's pop mode and roaring guitar mode into one tightly wound explosion of sound. There was space enough for the songs to breathe, but a driving urgency & energy in the rhythm section of Barbe & Travis that gives the whole album a barely-harnessed feel. Sonically, on songs like "The Act We Act" (Copper Blue), "JC Auto" (Beaster) & "Gee Angel" (File Under: Easy Listening) Sugar took Husker Du's aesthetic widescreen, the center held steady by Bob's focused songwriting. It's kind of incredible what Sugar did within such a small discography; there's no wasted space and the flow of great songs is a surprising, exciting listen 20 years later."

CD track listings/details:

Copper Blue / Beaster (3CD set)

Copper Blue & Beaster will be released as double LP with b-sides & live show as bonus downloads. CD1 & CD3 of this release will be sold together digitally. CD2 will be sold separately digitally only

CD1 (tracks 1-10 are original Ryko Copper Blue remastered, 11-14 are Ryko b-sides)

1 The Act We Act

2 A Good Idea

3 Changes

4 Helpless

5 Hoover Dam

6 The Slim

7 If I Can't Change Your Mind

8 Fortune Teller

9 Slick

10 Man on the Moon

11 Needle Hits E

12 If I Can't Change Your Mind (Solo Mix)

13 Try Again

14 Clownmaster

CD2 Beaster EP (original Ryko version remastered)

1 Come Around

2 Tilted

3 Judas Cradle

4 JC Auto

5 Feeling Better

6 Walking Away

CD3 Live at Cabaret Metro Chicago, Illinois, July 22, 1992

1 The Act We Act

2 A Good Idea

3 Changes

4 Running Out of Time

5 Helpless

6 If Can't Change Your Mind

7 Where Diamonds Are Halos

8 Hoover Dam

9 Beer Commercial

10 Slick

11 Anyone

12 Clownmaster

13 Tilted

14 Armenia City In the Sky

15 JC Auto

16 The Slim

17 Dum Dum Boys

18 Man on the Moon

File Under: Easy Listening (aka FU:EL)

FU:EL will be sold as a single LP with b-sides & live show as bonus downloads.

CD1 (tracks 1-10 are original Ryko FU:EL remastered, 11-16 are Ryko b-sides)

1 Gift

2 Company Book

3 Your Favorite Thing

4 What You Want It To Be

5 Gee Angel

6 Panama City Motel

7 Can't Help You Anymore

8 Granny Cool

9 Believe What You're Saying

10 Explode And Make Up

11 Mind Is an Island

12 Frustration

13 Going Home

14 In the Eyes of My Friends

15 And You Tell Me

16 Believe What You're Saying (Campfire Mix)

CD2 - The Joke Is Always On Us, Sometimes - Live at First Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota, November 2, 1994

1 Gift

2 Company Book

3 Hoover Dam

4 After All the Road Have Led to Nowhere

5 Where Diamonds Are Halos

6 Slick

7 Going Home

8 Running Out of Time

9 Frustration

10 Changes

11 Can't Help You Anymore

12 Helpless

13 If I Can't Change Your Mind

14 In the Eyes of My Friends

15 Clownmaster

16 Gee Angel

17 Explode And Make Up

18 The Slim