Pop-punk group Sugarcult visits Westwood

  Ultimatum Music The band Sugarcult is playing the House
of Blues in West Hollywood on Thursday.

By Mary Williams
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Inside UCLA’s Beta Theta Pi fraternity house, members of
Sugarcult set up their equipment, readying for the bizarre meeting
of a rock “˜n’ roll band, movie stars and a cooking show
that was to be filmed that afternoon.

Sitting on the front porch, sipping from a bottle of water,
Sugarcult guitarist Marko 72 was talking about his band’s
current endeavors, his voice fogged by a cold.

“The funnest thing about being in a rock band is that you
start out playing music and having fun with your friends, and you
wind up in all these funny situations,” said Marko.

“Whoever thought we’d be rolling into Westwood in
the middle of the afternoon, loading all our stuff into some
vacated frat house?”

The band, along with actors Tara Reid and Ryan Reynolds, were in
Beta Wednesday afternoon to film a cooking show in promotion of the
new National Lampoon film “Van Wilder,” set for a
spring release.

Four of Sugarcult’s songs are included in the movie, and
their “Bouncing Off the Walls” is the lead single from
the soundtrack.

“We were really excited when they asked us to be on the
soundtrack because those were all bands that we’ve either
toured with or are good friends with,” Marko said about the
other groups included in the project, such as Sum 41, Jimmy Eat
World and American Hi-Fi.

Sugarcult is about to head out on tour with another punk rock
group, Unwritten Law. The tour will begin Feb. 12 in Florida.

“They actually heard our record, and that’s the
coolest thing,” Marko said. “The band heard the record
and said, “˜Hey, we want to bring these guys on tour.’
So it was really organic.”

The band’s sound has been described, like so much modern
rock, as pop punk. This is a description, however, that Marko
disagrees with, saying people like Elvis Costello and bands like
the Clash and the Ramones influenced them more than ’90s pop
punk groups like Blink-182.

That the distinction between pop punk and other forms of rock
even exists is a point Marko contends.

“You could split hairs forever. It’s like when
someone’s multiracial and someone says, “˜Are you black
or are you white? Are you this or are you that?’ Who really
cares? You’re everything,” Marko said.

As for the criticism surrounding pop punk, Marko defended modern
punk music.

“If you’re continuing in a tradition, you’re
never going to be as exciting and amazing as the first time,”
Marko said. “Of course Green Day and Blink-182 aren’t
going to be as outrageous as the Sex Pistols, because the Sex
Pistols already went through the forest with a machete cutting down
all the brush, so all these guys have to do is coast along the
trail and take a couple of excursions.”

In any respect, Marko describes Sugarcult as a rock band, rather
than a pop punk band that focuses on its live show as a way to get
the energy of their music across.

Rather than trying to duplicate the songs as they are on the
album, Sugarcult treats the live performance as a unique experience
for the viewer. Marko emphasized the importance of making each show
special.

“Even if you’re playing the 14th night in a row, in
Little Rock, Ark., and it’s a Thursday night, you have to
keep in mind that those kids knew about the show before you
did,” he said. “Those kids have had the tickets tacked
up on the wall, they’ve been talking about it at school while
the teacher’s talking, and they’ve been drawing
pictures of your band. They’ve been looking forward to it, so
you’ve got to deliver every single night like it’s the
most important show of your life.”

Putting this much energy into every night’s performance
can take a toll on the band, particularly since the group often has
to play many nights in a row and drive between shows during the
day. The schedule of the tour also doesn’t give the members
any time off, no matter how they feel.

“If you get sick, like I’m sick right now, you
don’t have your mom’s chicken soup and your cozy little
bed to get well in,” Marko said. “It’s like,
“˜Fuck you, get in the van and sleep on the floor of the Motel
6. It’s your turn.'”

MUSIC: Sugarcult is playing at the House of
Blues in West Hollywood Thursday with HomeGrown and Reel Big
Fish.