Sugar

In 1992, following a pair of solo releases, Bob Mould—formerly the guitarist and vocalist of Hüsker Dü—assembled Sugar with bassist David Barbe and drummer Malcolm Travis. The group landed a U.S. deal with Rykodisc and a U.K. arrangement with Creation. Their debut full-length, Copper Blue, reached stores in fall 1992 to strong critical praise and stood as Mould’s most commercially successful undertaking to that point. The album came close to gold certification and yielded multiple alternative-radio and MTV successes, among them “Helpless” and “If I Can’t Change Your Mind.”

Spring 1993 brought the shorter, more abrasive Beaster, drawn from the same recording sessions as its predecessor. At the time of its release, several gay publications publicly identified Mould and urged him to champion their political agenda, but he declined. Mould spent 1993 writing songs for Sugar’s next album. Tracking began in spring 1994, only to stall completely when the tapes were wiped. He chose to restart the project and completed it rapidly late that spring.

Issued that fall under the title File Under: Easy Listening, the record earned favorable notices and respectable sales yet failed to equal Copper Blue’s impact. Early in 1995 Sugar was placed on hiatus. Besides, a compilation of rarities and B-sides, appeared that summer. By autumn Mould had formally disbanded the group and turned to a third album recorded entirely alone. On the self-titled set, released in spring 1995, he performed every instrument himself.