In the early ’90s there were a few like minded friends making a unique style of lo-fi pop music. At the core of this non-scene were Sukpatch, Land of the Loops and The Ah Club, who all tended to play on each other’s recordings. As the decade went on each of them learned how to use their instruments better, smoothing over the edges, but in typical fashion, the early home recordings had a special feeling that couldn’t be replicated with cleaner fidelity and nicer equipment. Sukpatch especially were scrappy and playful, with a definite sense of “let’s try it and see what happens” experimentation, starting off rooted in guitar based, low key indie pop before adding an increasing amount of samples and stacks of analog tape loops to the process. Their 1992 mini-opus Lite Hits straddled the two worlds, hinting at things to come while retaining an indefinable charm. In the meantime, they hit a real sweet spot, scratching that hardest to reach pop-itch.
Sukpatch at this time were spread out all around the country, and because of that would send a cassette tape to each other in the mail, with layers being added by each member until a song was deemed complete. Within those limitations they stumbled upon a sound that, when combined with earworm-like pop melodies, brings to mind those endless summer days when you’re a kid, the ones that feel like they’ll go on forever, only to be replaced later on by a blurry sense of nostalgia. A memory that feels so close yet so far, one you constantly reach back for, trying to re-capture the moment. Lite Hits is like a musical dopamine push, bringing that intangible feeling closer than you thought possible.
One detail that made this era of Sukpatch so unique were the vocals. Singer Tara, who would only appear on Lite Hits, would be recorded live to tape at half speed then sped up for mixing, giving her voice an almost alien-like high pitch that just works perfectly. Combined with the already heady stew, these sugar sweet vocals charged the entire proceedings ahead, creating a whole that was catchy as can be.
Originally released on cassette by Slabco in 1992, Concentric Circles is delighted to present Lite Hits on LP for the first time. This is short and sweet like the best pop albums. When it’s over you’ll just want to flip the record and hear the whole damn thing again (and again).
