The Supersuckers operate on a simple set of principles: playing old school rock and roll about sex, drugs, and the greatness of the Supersuckers makes for brilliant music. And, oddly enough, they happen to be right. This DVD opens high power and maintains its momentum all the way through.
A set of live performance footage, with no editorializing, no spin, and all music captures the fun and energy of a Supersuckers live show. The footage is a lot like the Supersuckers themselves: rough, raw, and a little cheesy. Some of the occasional visual effects--posterization and psychedelic color tricks--are probably a little misplaced, but somehow work with the grin factor of a band that sings songs about barricades. No, not a political song, but an ode to playing bars that have barricades--"This would be the best place we'd ever played/ if only they had a barricade."
And, c'mon, who doesn't like the country song "Non-Addictive Marijuana?" In fact, the band is at its best when tongue is firmly planted in cheek, while singing songs like "Supersucker Drive By Blues"--a giggly blues rocker written about flipping people off--and "I Want the Drugs."
The sound is great, the band is, over the various performances, in excellent form, and shows the Supersuckers to great effect. Even better, included with the DVD is a CD of a selection of the live performances--a perfect road trip companion.
The only real complaint would be that the performance is so short. At 17 songs, with no filler, it's hard not to come away wanting more. The extras are similarly brief. Fans are rewarded with a live pair of acoustic songs performed by Eddie Spaghetti (the lead singer), which is a nice bonus even with its marginal sound qualities. Of greater interest is the "hidden track"--a live performance of OutKast's "Hey Ya!" It's a surprisingly good fit for the band.
The final extra is the band interview. Those looking for insight into the band will probably be a little disappointed, but for anyone who realizes that this isn't a band about making statements. It's a band about discussing the relative merits of the power of flight verses the power of invisibility. Fun stuff (although, from this point of view, they almost all get the answer wrong).
The DVD is a definite must-have for fans of the band and highly recommended for fans of big, fast, dumb hard rock music. This isn't music for snobs, it's music for people who just want to enjoy the show.
Article comments
1 - SFC SKI
THanks for the tip, I got in the Supersuckers about a year ago, great music, must be fun live.