Sugar If I Can't Change Your Mind

For all its much-touted cultural impact, the alternative rock revolution of the early 1990s arguably produced only a few bands that contemporary music audiences are likely to remember: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and, to a lesser extent, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden. They made their mark on the music world and will be remembered for it, albeit for their aesthetic as much as their music.

But then there are the second-tier bands that produced quality music and won critical acclaim in the '90s, but seem to have been largely forgotten as the ripples of the alternative rock splash have subsided. Case in point: Sugar. The band's relegation to footnote status is especially unjust, considering frontman Bob Mould, a member of Husker Du, was one of the key architects of the 1980s alternative rock movement that exploded into the popular consciousness in 1991 with the release of Nirvana's Nevermind.

For those looking to delve into the prolific songwriter's substantial oeuvre, sugar's Copper Blue is a great place to start. Copper Blue is a finely-honed pop record, much more immediately accessible than Mould's earlier work with Husker Du. Some of its songs bear the distinctive mark of Mould's abrasive guitar tone (which, tragically, the vast majority of casual music listeners today associate with more well-known alt-rock bands like the Pixies and Nirvana). Many of these tracks utilize Mould's old motifs to great effect, but the real revelations are those that explore new territory while retaining the songwriter's acute sense of melody.

If any song on Copper Blue fits this description, it's "If I Can't Change Your Mind," which demonstrates that the razor-sharp guitar tones that characterized Husker Du's output were not a limitation, but rather a deliberate artistic choice. Accordingly, Mould's songwriting is just as captivating in a jangly, acoustic context.

"If I Can't Change Your Mind" shows signs of maturation on the part of its songwriter. Whereas the rare acoustic tracks in Husker Du's catalogue (see Candy Apple Grey) simply delivered the band's trademark brand of melodic angst with acoustic guitars, the lyrics and tone of "If I Can't Change Your Mind" convey something different entirely. Mould's vocals suggest a level of healthy resignation. It is as if the song's protagonist has experienced the heartbreak of doomed relationships before and learned to accept it as part of life. One would be tempted to call "If I Can't Change Your Mind" the spiritual successor to Zen Arcade's far more bitter acoustic gem "Never Talking to You Again," even though it was written by Grant Hart, Mould's songwriting partner in Husker Du.

Sometimes, the kind of maturation on display in a song like "If I Can't Change Your Mind" can rob a punk-rocker of the edge that makes his or her music so invigorating, but in Mould's case, it merely adds another layer to a vast emotional pallet that is starting to take on the softer shades of adulthood.