SPV/Steamhammer [Release date: 21.09.18]
Twelve albums in to a roller-coaster career and Supersuckers are still a hard band to pin down. Sometimes grunge, often country, but here channelling a very accessible and entertaining cowpunk/Motorhead hybrid. Mostly.
Singer/bassist/mainman Eddie Spaghetti has been through the mill somewhat since the band’s last outing that involves a road accident followed by a throat cancer diagnosis. Those experiences, no doubt, have shaped the darker songs here. The crawling drawl of ‘The Worst Thing Ever’, for instance, and the nihilistic lyrics ‘Dead Inside’ which contrast with its sing-song chorus.
However, more typical of the album is the free-wheeling, straight-between-the-eyes mayhem of opener ‘All Of The Time’, which is a swaggering joy. The crunching ‘Breaking My Balls’ has groove and tone that could be an outtake from Brian Robertson’s ill-fated but excellent dalliance with Lemmy and the boys on ‘Another Perfect Day’. The sound is liberated, uncluttered and spills unfettered from the speakers in a way that an album canned in only four days should.
Of the same ilk is the hard driving, hilarious and totally irreverent ‘(I’m Gonna Choke Myself and Masturbate) ‘Til I Die’. Hard on its heels comes more barnstorming rock ‘n’ roll in the shape of ‘Parking Lot’, tinged with honkey-tonk and full of low down, dirty solos from guitarist Marty Chandler.
In amongst the mix is the breathless ‘What’s Up (With This Motherfucking Thing?)’ calling in at a good few Ramones pit stops with Chandler again brewing up a whirlwind.
And just when you think you’ve got the measure of the album, the curve ball ‘Cold Wet Wind’ announces itself with a lonesome harmonica and trundles through some country lilts and rhythms.
The short and bittersweet album is wrapped up with a cover of ZZ Top’s ‘Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers’ where Chandler trades lyrics with Spaghetti and does a mean impression of Billy Gibbons for good measure.
This album is a lot of fun. And if reviewing it is like trying to nail jelly against the wall, then just imagine what they are like live. Supersuckers are on the road in the UK this November and I might just have to go and check them out. ***½
Review by Dave Atkinson
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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024
In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections
Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024
09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)
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