Summertime Heavy (Sugar Army)

THROUGH change comes artistic progress. On its second album, Perth-based rock act Sugar Army has streamlined the sound out of necessity: the band's bassist joined fellow Perth group Birds of Tokyo, reducing the quartet to a trio.

Summetime Heavy

THROUGH change comes artistic progress. On its second album, Perth-based rock act Sugar Army has streamlined the sound out of necessity: the band's bassist joined fellow Perth group Birds of Tokyo, reducing the quartet to a trio.

Yet this departure has helped to hone Summertime Heavy into a set of compact, driving rock songs. Sugar Army's 2009 debut, The Parallels Amongst Ourselves, was memorable but a touch overlong; half the tracks were great, the others less so.

Here, the band has scaled back the atmospheric production in favour of muscular songwriting, and the results are impressive. Sugar Army's sound evokes Los Angeles act Silversun Pickups in that the guitar phrasing, bass lines and drumbeats are all independently interesting.

This clever musical interplay, coupled with Patrick Mclaughlin's distinctive voice, ensures they're a near-perfect unit. Mclaughlin has a unique turn of phrase, too: "Once the mind's made up / Nothing comes in, and nobody gets out", he sings in Small Town Charm, which nails the realities of some regional mentalities.

In standout album closer Brazen Young he continues his fascination with female-led narratives first noted on their debut. These are lean, well-written songs delivered forcefully and urgently.

The band is versatile, too: the title track is built around a pretty acoustic guitar progression and a chanted motif ("Summertime heavy is taking its toll"), while the appearance of a wood block in Hearts Content is both unexpected and welcome. As the Go-Betweens' Robert Forster has said, the three-piece band is the purest form of rock 'n' roll expression. That holds true here.

LABEL: Permanent Records
RATING: 3 ½ stars