The Sugarettes

The Sugarettes originated in Eindhoven, Netherlands, where Joep van Son and Iskaa—also the frontman of Dutch group Foam—merged their shared affinity for sweet hooks, gritty guitars, and independent recording methods. The pair spent several months shaping van Son’s home-recorded sketches before recruiting drummer Marnix van den Broek to help realize the lo-fi Sugarettecity EP. Upon its 2006 appearance they dispatched a copy to Belgium’s Studio Brussel in hopes of entering the station’s demo competition, yet the energetic “Clap Hands” landed instead on regular rotation after the band neglected to mark “Demo Contest” on the package. Momentum persisted into 2007 when Cox Dieben joined on bass and Subroutine Records, the Groningen-based indie imprint, welcomed the Sugarettes to its roster. That autumn the band delivered its debut full-length, Love & Other Perversities.