SUPERSUCKERS - EVIL POWERS OF ROCK AND ROLL

Back in print after 9 years!

The Supersuckers had a string of great cow punk albums to their credit and had

managed to keep their line up intact by 1999's 'The Evil Powers Of Rock 'N' Roll'.

Their original drummer Dancing Eagle (Dan Seigle) lived in Austin and during this

period I saw them about 8 or 9 times between '95 and '00 and they never

disappointed. Bassist vocalist Eddie Spaghetti and co-lead guitarists Dan "Thunder"

Bolton and Ron "Rontrose" Heathman, had the recipe for raucous rock n roll and spitfire

live shows at their disposal. Album opener and title track, 'The Evil Powers Of Rock 'N'

Roll' even fades out with a few seconds of Ozzy's 'Believer' riff, and that my friend in

my book, is cool. 'Cool Manchu' is a stab at accessibility with a hummable vocal and

catchy riff, but we all know having dueling lead guitar all up in your face leads it in

another direction. When was the last time the shit flavor of the month pop crap had

killer leads on it? Exactly. 'I Want The Drugs' is exactly what real punk is, save the

melodic punk for the Target commercials. Featuring call and response gang chorus of "I

want the drugs" "drugs, drugs, I want the drugs!" This song, while hardly poetic, amps

up the guitar and makes it count. Love this song, pure punk genius featuring scorching

lead guitar and humor, which is essential for a song like this. 'Santa Rita High', a mid

tempo rocker with the trademark twin Gibson Les Paul gold top leads and 'Dead Meat'

the boxing themed punker make way for the ultimate slacker love song, 'Stuff And

Nonsense', a very believable story of a twenty-something relationship break up is

refreshing in that it isn't sad, it just is, which you never realize until you're older and

wiser. 'Dirt Roads, Dead Ends And Dust' is distorted, revved up blues. 'Fisticuffs' is a

tale of drunken brawling and being in a band, I know, the layman has no idea what the

hell is going on, there's music, a fight, someone is drunk, oh but it gets more

complicated. I highly recommend this band and their catalog, but closing this album,

billed as "13 new songs about liquor, women, drugs and killing", is in my opinion, the

first Supersuckers epic. 'Hot Like The Sun', which I witnessed them do live at the lovely

Club Deville in Austin, TX in 1999, is a 2 part, punk/rock n roll odyssey that proves they

were miles above many of the wannabes of the '90's. Recommended for fans of

kickasserey. - written by James Flores Gurgling up from the depths of hell, the first

straight punk-rock record from the Supersuckers since 1995's Sacrilicious has

only four things on its gloriously infantile mind: drugs, sex, fisticuffs, and

boozy, rip-roaring rock & roll. "Forces" uses the formula to unleash the finest

example of tongue-in-cheek, perpetually adolescent, head-banging chaos this side of

the Ramones. After 1997's all-country Must've Been High, the boys do seem to have

picked up some additional songwriting skills, as this set is virtually filler-free and

packed with choice, catchy riffs. "Hot Like the Sun" starts off as a typically dirty-minded

ode to the sexual chase, but then downshifts midsong into grungy minor chords and

dark melodicism as lead singer Eddie Spaghetti explores a more somber take on the

song's title. Still, the emphasis here is on exploiting the Supersuckers' unholy, take-noprisoners approach, imbuing lightning-fast scorchers like "I Want the Drugs" with their

particular guitar-driven mojo. Nobody's supposed to make punk music rock like this

anymore, but when these guys are on their game, it's a given. --Matthew Cooke [1]

TRACKLISTING:

01. THE EVIL POWERS OF ROCK 'N' ROLL 02. COOL MANCHU 03. I WANT THE DRUGS 04. SANTA

RITA HIGH 05. DEAD MEAT 06. STUFF 'N' NONSENSE 07. DIRT ROADS, DEAD ENDS AND DUST

08. FISTICUFFS 09. GONE GAMBLIN' 10. MY KICKA