Sugar Bomb Photo credit: Camilla Calnan
Asheville’s new soulful jazz outfit Sugar Bomb just made their debut with the EP Sweet last month but they’re already teasing a different side of their music with the lead single “Frenzy.” Showing an edgier and frenetic side of the trio, the new single announces their follow-up EP called Explosive they’re releasing later this summer.
Sugar Bomb says they’re not a jam band and not your grandpa’s jazz. Even on the new single, which deviates from the Newport Jazz Fest-inspired sounds of Sweet, “Frenzy” sounds like finding your new favorite experimental band in a DIY venue basement.
Across Sweet and Explosive, Sugar Bomb sounds reminiscent of Badbadnotgood, The Mattson 2, or The Bad Plus in how they blend more in genres outside jazz. There are touches of psychedelia, soul, and rock that makes for music that’s hard to label but easy to listen.
Bassist Eli Kahn says of the track that it “is an odd-metered drum’n’bass track that kicks off the ‘Explosive’ side of the album. The track extends an aggressive welcome to the other side of our sound, which is further explored in the entire back half of the record.”
Kahn also engineered the EPs and drummer Joe Enright mixed them before passing the recordings to Ed Brooks (Minus the Bear, Russian Circles) for mastering.
Sugar Bomb will be releasing their EP Explosive this July, and both EPs Sweet and Explosive will be available on vinyl to compile the two EPs to show the dynamic band’s different sides. Preorder here.
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