Brightest Young Things

all photos: Mike Danko

            You can’t fault Superdrag for trying. See, now that makes it sound like they were bad; they weren’t. There’s a difference between a band that isn’t really making an effort and one that whole-heartedly believes in what they’re doing and that difference is usually that the former group stinks. What makes this more complicated is that Superdrag has all the right enthusiasm, (arguably) all the right songs and, on the surface at least, all the right intentions for reforming, 13 years after their “Sucked Out” held a ninja grip on the college radio charts but something was missing anyway.

            At any rate, in the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that I was as excited, if not moreso, for the openers, As Tall As Lions. They’ve been a favorite of mine for years and somehow seem to be improving exponentially with each subsequent release. They started off as a Long Island emo band, then released a self-titled sophomore album, (seriously one of my all-time top-fivers) that was inspired equally by widescreen Brit-rock, Latin music and jazz; now they’re something completely different altogether.

They played three songs off their forthcoming third album, You Can’t Take It With You, and I don’t even know what these guys are anymore. The new tracks throw layers of intense, interesting percussion and atmospheric everything else underneath Dan Nigro’s Leviathan of a voice (imagine Thom Yorke and Enrique Iglesias in the throes of really great sex) and the result is fucking magical. Yeah, the older songs rocked harder in the traditional sense (especially the particularly raucous renditions of “Song For Luna” and closer “A Break A Pause”) but I get the impression that the new record is gonna be pretty special anyway. I don’t really know why more people don’t know about them, though it might be because they’re stuck in a pretty shitty three-album contract with the totally ill-fitting Triple Crown Records; either way, I’m sure the release of the new one in July will change all of that for good. Do yourself a favor and get on this shit. Now.

            Whenever I think of the reasons why a band is playing a particular venue, I get a little carried away, imagining fictional conversations with their camp as to the right place to perform. Superdrag’s went a little bit like this:

            “We’re fucking Superdrag, man! If we’re gonna come back, it’s gotta be big! Everything’s gotta be big! We need a hall with at least 40-foot ceilings and a sick banner on the wall of the stage behind us! Big!”

            In reality, the amount of people there for the embarrassingly early show (Sebastien Tellier and his Sexuality were scheduled for the late slot) would have been more suited to a possible sold-out crowd at Black Cat. That wasn’t the only thing that was off: for some mystifying reason, the band chose to start their set with literally five songs that sounded exactly alike. I am a fan of the band, my knowledge of them coming mostly from two albums of theirs that I have. And I like them a lot and I like power-pop a lot but it just seemed strange to me to play 20 minutes worth of the same 4/4 beat and power chords (about three of them). It was almost like they were trying to convince everyone in the room that they were still in their twenties and capable of setting a room on fire, when I wouldn’t have minded more musically interesting songs like In The Valley Of Dying Stars’ “Unprepared.” I got it, you have a distortion pedal. It’s fly. But I couldn’t help feeling disappointed at the lack of variation, a complaint I also have with their newest album, Industry Giants. Last night seemed more a mission statement (“we are a rock band and we are back and we don’t fuck around with pianos no mo”) than a performance and that’s a little unfortunate, I guess.

            But when it comes down to it, I think this is just a case of people coming and wanting to be rocked with loud songs they’re familiar with and the band feeling that it’s their obligation to do so. They did get better as the night went on but I still thought As Tall As Lions was superior and I’m pretty sure if Superdrag’s set was any better or worse, that wouldn’t have changed. We’ll see how this reunion goes; if they’re into it and serious about it, I wish them nothing but the best.  

Previously in Live DC:

• 5/22: LiveDC: Spirit Animal @ Red Palace
• 5/22: LiveDC: Astra Via @ Black Cat
• 5/22: LiveDC: Father John Misty @ Rock & Roll Hotel
• 5/22: LiveDC: Drive-By Truckers and Lucinda Williams @ Merriweather
• 5/22: Photos: Summer Camp takes the "Ladies of Town" Drag Show
• 5/22: LiveDC: Penguin Prison & Class Actress @ RNR Hotel
• 5/21: LiveDC: James Morrison @ 930 Club
• 5/21: Photos: Que Sera L'Anniversaire @ Napoleon
• 5/21: LiveDC: La Sera/ Beach Week @ Red Palace
• 5/21: LiveDC: The Black Keys & Arctic Monkeys @ Merriweather Post Pavilion