Sugar Beats | Audio CD

How Sweet It Is

The Sugar Beats prove on How Sweet It Is that they were retro before retro was cool, mining mostly the '70s and some of the '80s with cuts like the old Go-Go's hit "We Got the Beat" and the Archies' "Sugar Sugar." Flush with equal amounts of pure bubble-gum pop and some enduring and endearing soul classics such as the Rascals' "It's a Beautiful Morning," the proud classic "Nobody but Me," and the timeless "Land of a Thousand Dances," the set seems to miscue only a couple of times with "Our House" and the novelty tune "(Lime in the) Coconut" (done better by the Muppets, truth be told). Still with esteem-building rockers such as "Walking on Sunshine" and the old Sly Stone civil rights anthem "Stand," who wouldn't want these rethreaded retro tunes blasting in their house? --Martin Keller