A concise little fireball of a song cycle by Bob Mould's post-Hüsker Dü three-piece, Beaster starts off comparatively placidly with the acoustic/electric "Come Around", but there on in, it is Mould's incendiary guitar playing setting the agenda, at the time in some minds putting Kurt Cobain's more primitive attack in the shade. This is not to say that songs are missing in action, indeed the ones here are nigh on his best work. I feel Beaster peaks just as the drone of "Judas Cradle" segues into "JC Auto", which can only be described as a catharsis. "Feeling Better" is a bit lighter in tone, as the name might suggest, though it still cranks mightily. The keyboard driven curio "Walking Away" might seem an odd way to end such a hard-boiled set, but it works here, bringing the mini-album full circle to it's conclusion. And that's probably why I like this Sugar album in particular. Whilst the other full albums certainly have their share of decent songs, this set really works as a whole, and really should be considered more that just an addendum to Copper Blue.