Untitled Social Experiment (aka USE) uses an apt metaphor in its single “Sugar Rush” for the questionable appeal of party culture. The references are the world of after hours or not so after hours parties in Los Angeles in mansions rented in the name of hedonistic fun but often ended up being the kind of dystopian social milieu straight out of an early Bret Easton Ellis novel. That world seems especially surreal to anyone not indulging in the plethora of substances to be had that make such odd situations seem enjoyable to many people. The song, a downtempo, brooding pop song captures that sense of not knowing why anyone would spend their lives in such empty pleasures endlessly seeking them out for a cheap thrill, a fake rush that isn’t cathartic but purely sensorial. The song questions these experiences and situations that are supposed to be sweet but like pure sugar has empty calories and provides minimal actual nourishment for the body much less any other aspect of one’s humanity. The performative aspect of that ersatz fun that is insisted upon gets dished on with style on the song and its lushly dark melody and spaciousness are an analog of the poisonously dreamlike quality of being in that moment of disaffected wonderment. Listen to “Sugar Rush” on Soundcloud and follow USE there as well.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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