From Sugar Hiccup to Narcloudia... deja vu

I was hanging out the old Club Dredd along Edsa with Parokya ni Edgar bassist Buwi Meneses when I heard this band performing the Sunday’s “Here’s Where the Story Ends.” The vocalist sounded amazing and I rushed inside to check out who it was.

It was Sugar Hiccup. I remember being entranced even more as they placed a bunch of original songs. The power of the voice of the vocalist, Melody del Mundo, and the shoegazer music, really got to me. I was already into Slowdive, the Cocteau Twins, and local shoegaze outfit, Sonnet 58. Sugar Hiccup made a case for a new favorite.

I watched them at Dredd, Mayrics, the NU Rock Awards, and as a three-piece outfit when Melody left for the United States, at 70’s Bistro.

I picked up their albums, Oracle, and Womb. And later, their 2-in-1 series that collected the first two albums, and Of Tongues and Thoughts.

Last night, I arrived at Route 196 and I remember as soon as I walked up the driveway, there was this band playing. Shoegazer, I thought to myself.

So I went in, not knowing who was the band.

It was Nirvana night, a tribute to the famous band that defined the alternative 1990s. But this band re-made some grunge classics (Dumb and Something In the Way) into their own dream pop manner. They performed five songs and were absolutely amazing. An early crowd came in and were just as mesmerized.

Little did I know that for me, musically, lightning struck twice. The band’s name is Narcloudia and the lead singer of the three-piece outfit is Beatrix Alcala.

Does the name sound familiar? She replaced Melody del Mundo in Sugar Hiccup’s line-up and sang on Of Tongues and Thoughts. I thought that particular album was amazing because Bea brought in her own sound that was very indie. She wasn’t a Del Mundo clone because she interpreted the music in her own way with that elfin voice of hers.

Her new outfit, Narcloudia, is a mix between shoegazer with goth trappings (you’ll hear a lot of early Siouxsie and the Banshees in them too). And well, I love it.

I managed to get a copy of their album and well, it’s like Oracle all over again.


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My Sugar Hiccup albums here. 

With Narcloudia -- Vhop Pascua, Beatrix Alcala, and Karla Pundaodaya

With my Beatrix Alcala albums of Sugar Hiccup and Narcloudia