Showing posts with label Supersuckers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Supersuckers. Show all posts

Sunday, December 15, 2019

"Play That Rock n' Roll"

Supersuckers
The band's 13th studio album arrives February 7th via Acetate Records

Listen to the single "Ain't Gonna Stop" HERE

Pre-order HERE


"Ain't gonna stop until I stop it, Ain't gonna let it go until I drop it," growls Eddie Spaghetti on the first track off the Supersuckers 13th studio album, "Play That Rock n' Roll."  Tracked over the course of four sweltering days at Willie Nelson's Austin, TX studio, "Play That Rock n' Roll" rocks with an amphetamine intensity, delivering muscular riffs, big choruses and more than a few tricks up it's sleeve.
 
Raw, immediate and often times hilarious, "Play That Rock n' Roll' is the album a band makes after slugging it out on the road for thirty years (barring a one year hiatus while Eddie battled throat cancer).  No frills, no guest stars and no collaborations, the album earns the listener's ear - the Supersuckers have lived this shit and you can feel it.
 

Songs like "Bringing It Back" and "Last Time Again" deliver a Ramones-like wall of sound, courtesy of guitarist Metal Marty Chandler, while "You Ain't The Boss Of Me" recalls Dirty Deeds-era AC/DC - and never one to be taken too seriously, Eddie and company make sure to keep the Supersuckers tongue firmly planted in cheek with "That's a Thing?" and "Gettin' Into Each Other's Pants".   The album also includes a rousing cover of Michael Monroe's "Dead, Jail or Rock n' Roll" and a long overdue revival of the Allen Toussaint penned "A Certain Girl," which appears as an "unlisted track."
 
All in all, "Play That Rock n' Roll" delivers the middle finger brand of Rock n' Roll the band has been known for since signing to Sub Pop in the early 1990's.  Combining the ferocity of Motörhead, the off kilter humor of Cheap Trick and the swagger of Steve Earle, the 'Suckers earned their spurs playing everywhere from dirt floor dive bars to The Tonight Show. Thirty years later, they still deliver the goods, or in the words of Eddie Spaghetti himself...
 
"The Supersuckers have been doing this for a long time. A LONG time. And the fact that we're still doing it is not lost on us. We still love Rock n Roll. I mean, we must. There's no other explanation for why we would still be putting out fresh, new rock music anymore. No one NEEDS it. Hell, hardly anybody even WANTS it. But here it is. Another master class in quality Rock n' Roll. Sure it's for the few, the proud, the People of Impeccable Taste, the Connoisseurs Of Quality but it makes us happy to know we still got it. And we do. We might be better than we've ever been and that's exciting. So here it is, our love letter to good, ass kicking rock n roll. Turn it on, turn it up and listen to the Supersuckers play that Rock n' Roll!!" 
 
 
US TOUR DATES:
  • 1/16 - Steamboat Springs, CO @ Schmiggity's Live Music
  • 1/18 - Denver, CO @ Globe Hall
  • 1/19 - Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad
  • 1/22 - Dallas, TX @ Three Links Deep Ellum 
  • 1/23 - Austin, TX @ Empire Control Room & Garage 
  • 1/24 - San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger 
  • 1/26- Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall 
  • 1/29 - Outlaw Country Cruise
* Full European tour starts Feb 7, US dates continue in May 2020

Friday, July 5, 2019

"Cactusville"

THE HANGMEN set to release "Cactusville" 
via Acetate Records on August 23rd

The L.A. underground Rock legend's 7th studio album


"It's The Hangmen he wanted to kill... we got run out of Cactusville," laments Bryan Small on the album's title track of The Hangmen's seventh album. Flanked by longtime members Jimmy James (guitar), Angelique Congleton (bass) and newcomer Jorge Disguster (drums), Small recollects the harrowing tale of a gig in Tuscon promoting their major label debut. "It was such a formative trip for us as a young band. There was death, drugs, booze, guns, girls and rock n' roll... and we met some new friends along the way."
 
One friend in particular, Eddie Spaghetti of the Supersuckers remembers the gig well, "They pulled up in a perfectly shitty van and proceeded to literally fall out of it. I know that one of them immediately puked in the parking lot. Combine all the L.A. coolness of the dudes with the songs and, oh my god, no one could touch them. The fucking SONGS. Right out of the gate I was struck by the patient, laid back-ness of their rock-n-roll ways. They changed a lot about the way I thought about what a band should be and how songs should be delivered. They instantly became our heroes."

The Hangmen were formed in Los Angeles in 1986 and immediately caught the eye of Black Flag/Circle Jerks singer Keith Morris. Morris managed the band, and along with Bad Religion's Brett Gurewitz, produced the demos that landed them a deal with Capitol Records. They released their self-titled debut in 1987, but things soon came crashing down. A switch to DGC Records (the newly formed subsidiary of Geffen who's roster included The Nymphs, Nirvana, etc) seemed like the perfect landing spot for the band. Unfortunately, the album Suicide Doors was shelved and the band dissolved into addiction.

Not one to be down for long, a newly sober Small started writing again, the result was 2000's Metallic I.O.U. Tours with longtime fans Social Distortion and the Supersuckers followed. Ness would later produce The Hangmen's 2007 release In the City. "I totally feel like we're kindred spirits," Small says looking back, adding that both bands emphasize "simplicity, and doing what you do and staying true to that."

In 2010, the Finnish label Hype Records, Lost Rocks, an 18-song Hangmen retrospective. Shortly thereafter, former Supersucker, Rontrose Heathmen joined the band for 2012's critically acclaimed East Of Western.

2019 marks the release of Cactusville and another chapter of The Hangmen legend continues. Small has taken his brand of songwriting to another level, putting him in an artistic class with the likes of Tom Petty and Neil Young as purveyors of honest and simple songwriting.

Side 2 of the LP features the Best Western Players, Bryan Small's countrified side project. In the same vein as Neil Young's "American Stars and Bars," the songs take on a different feel, with vocal harmonies and haunting pedal steel echoing throughout. It's familiar territory for Small, who grew up in rural Montana before making his way to Los Angeles. "The 'country' side of The Hangmen has been there from the start, it stems from the love of Gun Club, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, etc.," explains Small, "the Best Western Players were brought in to realize the songs as they were conceived."
  
The Hangmen will join Acetate Records label mates the Supersuckers on a rare East Coast US tour in September. Additional dates TBA.
THE HANGMEN w/ Supersuckers (unless otherwise denoted *)
  • 08/23 Los Angeles, CA @ Redwood Bar Record Release Party * 
  • 09/02 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl 
  • 09/04 Greenville, SC @ Radio Room 
  • 09/05 Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall 
  • 09/06 Wilmington, NC @ Reggie's 42nd St. Tavern 
  • 09/07 Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle 
  • 09/08 Nashville, TN @ Little Harpeth Brewing 
  • 09/10 Richmond, VA @ The Camel 
  • 09/11 Washington DC @ City Winery 
  • 09/12 Harrisburg, PA @ 10th St. Stage 
  • 09/14 Harrisonburg, VA @ The Golden Pony 
  • 09/15 Pittsburgh, PA @ Hard Rock Cafe 
  • 09/16 Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom 
  • 09/18 Portland, ME @ Geno's Rock Club 
  • 09/19 Hampton Beach, NH @ Wally's 
  • 09/20 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East 
  • 09/21 Amityville, NY @ Amityville Music Hall 
  • 09/22 Brooklyn, NY @ El Cortez 

Cactusville Pre-sale - http://acetate.com/the-hangmen/

The Hangmen Website * https://the-hangmen.com 


Instagram * @the_hangmen * https://www.instagram.com/the_hangmen/

Twitter * @the_hangmen * https://www.twitter.com/the_hangmen/

Saturday, August 4, 2018

"Suck It" Saturday


It's Saturday, Tell Someone To "Suck It"...

SUPERSUCKERS
to release new album "Suck It" on September 21st

30th anniversary tour confirmed for the Fall
"We've finally become the band that we've always threatened to be," says singer-bassist Eddie Spaghetti, calling, as ever, from the road. With the Supersucker odometer clicking on three decades this very year, the self-proclaimed Greatest Rock n' Roll Band in the World is marking the occasion with a loud, resounding Suck It. Off the blocks, this 12th studio album from the band showcases a ruthless, get-it-done trio that sounds rebuilt from Motorhead parts, with a singer-bassist transmuting Lemmy's mojo to rasp "You said to grab it / Just hook or stab it / And now I gotta have it - All of the time." 

"Once we tapped into that vibe, we really ran with it," Eddie says of All the Time, which opens an album he and core 'Suckers Marty Chandler (guitar) and drummer Chris Von Streicher (drums) recorded early this year at Bismeaux Studio in Austin, TX, cutting all ten tracks in four days. "And it sounds great," says Eddie. "There's not a lick I wish we could have back."
One upside to putting 30 years of work in: You get better. One downside: Few around you do. The History of Rock n' Roll begins by lamenting a key knowledge gap among youngsters: "The difference between what sucks and what's good" - going on to illustrate the latter with an exuberant chorus: "Like Rocket From The Crypt / And the New Bomb Turks / Let's hear it for the Hangmen / Yeah they know how it works..." The list goes on: "How 'bout Zen Guerrilla man / They were fucking killer / And I am just amazed / Every time I see the Bell Rays." In the tradition of "Dancing in the Streets" or "Land of 1,000 Dances," the rhyming list song flips a crank's tirade into a roll call of fallen heroes: "Don't forget Danko and the Didjits / And the motherfucking Dwarves man / Yeah the Dwarves!" Eddie Spaghetti says it's all from the heart. "I had the line in my head for a long time - 'a footnote to an anecdote in the history of Rock n' Roll,'" he recalls. "I'm happy it came off snarky and crotchety but at the same time, celebratory about all these great bands that I really love, wish everybody else loved, and get bent out of shape that they don't."
By rights, Eddie Spaghetti should be way more than bent out of shape. Three years ago, he packed his wife Jessica, their sons Quattro and Zeke, and daughter Elvis into an SUV pulling a 29-foot Argosy Airstream, setting out from Seattle to spend a year as a family on the road - a year that was ended eight days later by a patch of black ice in Oklahoma. "That turned everything upside down," Eddie says of the crash, which was swiftly followed by a diagnosis of throat cancer and put the uninsured sometime country singer on a blue-collar trajectory from trailer to ICU room in just under six months. With his family living out of a minivan, Eddie got treated at City of Hope in Los Angeles, spending four days intubated and another six months fed by a tube before clawing his way back to Rock n' Roll. "I'm back, for sure," he says now. "It was a rough one though."
Since this is the first batch of Supersuckers released since then, some come from genuine darkness. "Everything happens for a reason" begins the track Dead Inside. "What a stupid thing to say." Four-on-the-floor cowbell and singsong chorus turn this telegram from the abyss into what Eddie rightly calls "a pop song. Back when bands used to have hits, this one could totally be a hit." The Worst Thing Ever describes the bottom in these same straight-shooting terms, the kind you hear throughout the Supersuckers oeuvre-giddily trashy paeans to hooch, Satan, or deviant sex in offhandedly-witty light verse.
This has been more or less their métier since the group of high school buddies from Tucson first moved to Seattle in 1990, signing with Sub Pop and becoming grunge's sole country-music dabblers, going so far as to back up Willie Nelson on the Tonight Show. On Suck It, Eddie's forays into country are reflected solely in the bluesy nod of Cold, Wet Wind. Otherwise, their expansive hardcore-band aesthetic came through time-tested Supersucker methodology: "writing songs in hotel rooms, dirty back stages, and all the shitholes we're always play at," says Eddie, whose fleet pen and nimble wit aren't to be overlooked-the gifts of a NSFW James Thurber or an inhalant-abusing Dorothy Parker.
"If somebody is a carpenter for 30 years, they're gonna be a fucking good carpenter, you know?" says Eddie. "So it shouldn't be such a surprise that a band just gets better over time and I really genuinely believe that we have," he says. And near-death experiences aside, Eddie says "It's really sort of a miracle. I mean, who does anything for 30 years anymore?" On this summer's 30th-anniversary tour, the band will play songs from Suck It, some country faves, and two of their Sub Pop records in its entirety.
As a whole, Suck It brings to mind that old friend who's awesome to hang out with even if his life is in the shitter. "I tend to do my best work when I'm feeling good," Eddie says. "I don't tend to channel dark stuff into my Rock n' Roll, but it makes for a more interesting record. I've come to realize what we do is not for everyone, but I still feel like we have hit songs. This one sounds like it's coming from dudes in their 50s who've been doing it for a long time and have this stupid hope that someday somebody will hear our song and make it popular like it oughta be. Because that is the truth."

Tracklisting:
All Of the Time (5:14)
The History of Rock 'n' Roll (5:37)
Dead Inside (3.33)
Breaking My Balls (3:10)
The Worst Thing Ever (3:46)
What's Up (With This Motherfucking Thing?) (1:46)
Cold Wet Wind (3:16)
(Im Gonna Choke Myself and Masturbate) 'Til I Die )2:52)
Private Parking Lot (3:12)
Beerdrinkers and Hellraisers  (w/ Jesse Dayton)(3:37)

US Tour Dates 2018:
07/26/18 - Bend, OR @ Volcanic Theatre Pub
07/27/18 - Reno, NV @ July Jam / Greater Nevada Field
07/28/18 - San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of the Hill
07/29/18 - Santa Cruz, CA @ Moe's Alley
07/31/18 - Phoenix, AZ @ The Rebel Lounge
08/01/18 - Tustin, CA @ Marty's on Newport
08/02/18 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah
08/03/18 - West Hollywood, CA @ Viper Room
08/04/18 - Mount Baldy, CA @ Mt Baldy Ski Resort
08/05/18 - Long Beach, CA @ Alex's Bar
09/01/18 - Milwaukee, WI @ Harley-Davidson Museum
09/07/18 - Birmingham, AL @ Zydeco
09/08/18 - Huntsville, AL @ Sidetracks Music Hall
09/09/18 - Knoxville, TN @ The Concourse
09/11/18 - Tampa, FL @ Brass Mug
09/12/18 - Orlando, FL @ Soundbar
09/13/18 - Jacksonville, FL @ Jack Rabbits
09/14/18 - Savannah, GA @ The Jinx
09/15/18 - Charleston, SC @ The Royal American
09/16/18 - Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
09/18/18 - Asheville, NC @ Grey Eagle Music Hall
09/19/18 - Raleigh, NC @ The Pour House Music Hall
09/21/18 - Wilmington, NC @ Reggie's
09/22/18 - Richmond, VA @ The Camel
09/23/18 - Virginia Beach, VA @ Shaka's Live
09/24/18 - Washington, DC @ Pearl Street Warehouse
09/26/18 - New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
09/27/18 - Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Upstairs
09/28/18 - Worcester, MA @ The Cove Music Hall
09/29/18 - New Haven, CT @ Cafe Nine
09/30/18 - Troy, NY @ Hangar on the Hudson
10/02/18 - Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place
10/03/18 - Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
10/05/18 - Erie, PA @ Kings Rook Club
10/07/18 - Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar
10/09/18 - Minneapolis, MN @ Uptown VFW
10/10/18 - Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews
10/11/18 - Waterloo, IA @ Spicoli's
10/12/18 - Lombard, IL @ Brauerhouse
10/13/18 - Pekin, IL @ Twisted Spoke
10/14/18 - Nashville, TN @ Exit/In