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X-PRESS MAGAZINE
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IE~E~ TiE SWEETS OF SIN flse Sweets Of Shi Jmrah ~U Thmu~ ~ Okay, so you've digested The Sugar Cubes, and once again you feel comfortable with the parameters of pop music. Think again. The Sweets Of Sin is a Sydney-based trio with quite a different approach to eledronic pop. Resting uneasily on the de~er-didc computers of dassically-troined Brit Steve Z, this album is well worth playing three times before its intentions are realised. Alarmingly ~r-the-top German vocalist Frank Mankyboddle is the Sweets' co-songwriter and guitarist, with Australian-born Daniel O'Shea Clements prancing drums and highly imaginative percussive elements. The Sweets Of Sin certainly sounds more 'Berlin' than 'Sydney', what with the electronic sophistication of Kroftwerk, the cabaret qualities of Weill/Brecht and some of the vocal extremes of Nina Hogen. The Dftd~ is even sung in German, and most of the album's lyrics bear that Sugarcubes-type suggestion that they have been roughly transl~ ~m a different language. Most of this is initially incomprehensible: Rhythms, melodies and arrangements veering all o-~r the place, but the complexities become curiously satisfying with time, especially in Who's Ian~ ComfortMe, Futurissimo, and the old Turkish hit (surely you remember it) Can Hahce. The uncomfortable quirkiness, the sparseness and instrumental variation make this debut an interesting one. The eccentricity is genuine, even if there is something a little sterile andcokula$ed aboutthe mayhem. But there's no denying the achievement. This is new music |