The proceedings begin with a raw, frenetic backbeat under a repeating phrase whose punkish, spit-out-the-words tone is the emotional antithesis of its content:<\/p>\n
\u201cSlow to speak, slow to anger
Slow to speak, slow to anger
Slow to speak, slow to anger
Slow to speak, slow to anger\u201d<\/p>\n
Then the guitars join in with a huge, distorted, greasy, repeating riff that pushes the vocals that much harder:<\/p>\n
\u201cSlow to speak, slow to anger
Slow to speak, slow to anger
Slow to speak, slow to anger
Slow to speak, slow to anger
The opposite of how I feel
The opposite of how I live
There\u2019s no justice in this deal
It\u2019s something infinitely greater\u201d<\/p>\n
Superdrag has a history of front-loading their albums with strong openers, but this, the first album released by the band\u2019s original lineup in 11 years, might be the strongest ever.\u00a0 The driving power chords, thunderous drums and anthemic, pleasantly ragged vocals of \u201cSlow To Anger\u201d function like head-banging fanfare, announcing simply and certainly, \u201cWe\u2019re back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Superdrag \u2013 John Davis, Brandon Fisher, Tom Pappas and Don Coffey — also has a history of internal\/external chaos rivaling bands like the Gin Blossoms and Fleetwood Mac.\u00a0 From their first moment of success with 1996\u2019s Regretfully Yours<\/i>, the band spiraled into serial battles for control with their original label (Elektra), major stylistic shifts, Pappas\u2019s departure, Fisher\u2019s departure, Davis\u2019 bouts with alcoholism, and so on until Davis, Coffey and company called it quits in 2003.\u00a0 Four years later the original quartet got together for a series of reunion shows, and now\u2026 here we are.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s great about the here and now of Superdrag is that this reunion doesn\u2019t feel gratuitous in the least.\u00a0 Certainly the album title is a self-deprecating dig at their checkered history within the music industry; cult favorites, yes — industry giants, not exactly.\u00a0 What\u2019s clear is that these guys got back together for exactly the right reason — because they wanted to make music together again \u2013 and it shows in every track.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Following up on the darkly manic power-pop energy of \u201cSlow To Anger,\u201d \u201cLive And Breathe\u201d has a dreamy quality that reminds me of some of Fountains Of Wayne\u2019s more melodic midtempo tunes.\u00a0 The gorgeous juxtaposition of melody and dissonance continues with \u201cI Only Want A Place I Can Stay,\u201d which, while it\u2019s still got dirty, distorted guitars, is at its core a Replacements-flavored power-pop song.\u00a0 The funky ocean-sounds fadeout is nice, too, an atmospheric touch that reminds you of the band\u2019s defiantly experimental nature.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
\u201cEverything\u2019ll Be Made Right\u201d and \u201cTry\u201d offer more rich, distorted melodicism.\u00a0 In between, bassist Tom Pappas\u2019s first-ever lead vocal vehicle \u201cCheap Poltergeists\u201d sounds — not coincidentally, I\u2019m sure — more than a little Cheap Trick in its lush power-pop overtones, though it also carries more than a little Clash-styled drive on the verses.\u00a0 Guitarist Brandon Fisher\u2019s hooky, harmony-rich \u201cReady To Go\u201d sounds like the Gin Blossoms on a distortion kick.\u00a0 And \u201cFilthy & Afraid,\u201d with its 4\/4 backbeat, monster-truck riffing, rich melody and Freudian lyrics, is Superdrag in a nutshell — dark and catchy, poetic and anthemic, raucous and thoughtful all at once.<\/p>\n
One of the things you\u2019re afraid of with a reunion album is that, while the guys will be older and wiser, they\u2019ll also be tamer and not as interesting (see: Bruce Springsteen\u2019s latest).\u00a0 These guys aren\u2019t.\u00a0 They might be a few years older, but they\u2019re as off-the-rails out there as ever on songs like Pappas\u2019 hoot-worthy zombie-fest \u201cYou\u2019re Alive\u201d and Davis\u2019 bulldozing rant \u201c5 Minutes Ahead Of The Chaos.\u201d\u00a0 It puts a smile on your face imagining these four guys back in the game together, drenched in sweat, slamming their heads back and forth, screaming into the mike, having a blast.<\/p>\n
Closing out this stellar set, \u201cAspartame\u201d features heavy-as-they-come verses, a repeating reggae break and a lyric that\u2019s pop philosophizing at its most entertaining.\u00a0 And \u201cDeathblow To Your Pride\u201d is a cathartic explosion of rock and roll goodness, all angry vocals, rich riffage and brilliant dynamics.<\/p>\n
Industry Giants <\/i>as a whole is nothing short of incendiary; this is excellent material, played with exuberant passion.\u00a0 Superdrag was always about that mixture of ferocity and melody, but that very core of passion automatically became the biggest hurdle the band faced in reuniting \u2013 could they recapture the depth of emotion behind their best music?\u00a0 Industry Giants<\/i> could easily have been a disaster, a sop to either fans or wallet that lost the center of what the band was about — but it doesn\u2019t.\u00a0 This is an album that matters, that has real impact; this is a band playing like they mean it.<\/p>\n
Granted it\u2019s only March, but I\u2019ll be amazed if Industry Giants<\/i> doesn\u2019t make a slew of Best of 2009 lists come December.\u00a0 Much more than merely a successful reunion disc, this might just be the best album of Superdrag\u2019s acclaimed career.\u00a0 Turn it on, turn it up and judge for yourself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":29796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8141],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-41408","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-superdrag","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41408"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}