REVIEW: Superdrag, Head Trip In Every Key (Elektra)
- Bill Holmes
With song titles like "Amphetamine", "Do The Vampire", "Antechrist", "Hellbent" and "The Art Of Dying", those unfamiliar with this Knoxville pop band might get the wrong idea. But as fans of Regretfully Yours (their previous release) know, Superdrag is about as far away from death metal as one can get. Thank god.
John Davis' earnest voice finds a potpourri of musical beds to lie in this time around, from the sweet country strains of "I'm Expanding My Mind" and "Amphetamine" (well, they are from Tennessee!) to the lush Big Star meets Badfinger phrasings of "Hellbent" and "Antechrist". "Mr. Underground" steals a couple of words and the horn riff from "Baby You're A Rich Man" and frames them with a killer hook; if Fastball hit with "The Way" this should stand alongside it toe to toe. Likewise, "Hellbent" checks in with a pure pop drumbeat and that fat guitar sound that every Sloan, Big Star and Badfinger fan will lap up. The uptempo "Sold You An Alibi" and guitar anthem "Pine Away" could be The Posies. Only the plodding "Bankrupt Vibration" (which uses a plodding alterna-beat to satirize the genre) is hard to take, but even that one redeems itself by revving up for the final 1:15. The album closes with the six minute opus "The Art Of Dying", all strings and sitar and Matthew Sweet atmosphere.
Producer Jerry Finn's harder edge puts a hard shell on the ear candy, but the band's pop homage is the better for it (a prime example is the drop-dead Beach Boys moment in the otherwise punky "Shuck And Jive"). Where their hit "Sucked Out" featured Davis' tonsil-throb vocal screams, this time the music does the talking. Unfortunately, the label chose to focus on "Do The Vampire" as the lead off single. Now "Vampire" is not a bad song, but "Mr. Underground" and "Hellbent" are hit singles just waiting to get the air time. Hopefully radio will go three cuts deep with this one, but if you pick it up yourself you can dive in for all thirteen. It's one that grows on you with each listen, and among 1998's best.
