Palm Trees and Power Lines

On the undeniably catchy rocker "Memory," the band effortlessly dives into one of the themes that have made them such an important band to their fans - love hanging by a thread. The similarly wrenching songs, "Crying" and "Over", search for a glimmer of affirmation amid the debris of shattered romantic dreams.

"Back to California,"encapsulates the album's dramatic payload in a vivid narrative ("Drive all night to hold you tight / Back to California / We couldn't win in the end") that recalls the climax of an earlier California saga of highways and hope, The Graduate.

"These songs are fresh documents of our lives over the last two years," says Marko. "We're more confident as musicians, we're more confident in our ideas - because, when you set out to do something against all odds and it's working, that just strengthens your resolve. It gives you the confidence to take more chances, keep doing the things you've been doing without apologies and just go for it."


Another album of unapologetic pop punk songs from this Santa Barbara outfit who have smartly filled in the void that Green Day left when they decided to dabble into rock's early canon and eschew self-loathing for more mature introspection. Sugarcult has none of those pretensions; instead their rock anthems are rather unadulterated and athletic--even when they're trying to sonically extricate themselves from complicated and claustrophobic romantic entanglements. With lyrics more clever than smart, Sugarcult makes romantic fatalism oddly entertaining as they take listeners through a wistful post mortem of a love affair gone awry. --Jaan Uhelszki