Supersuckers - Liquor Women Drugs & Killing [CD]

At this point in their illustrious, nearly 40-year career, Supersuckers have nothing to prove to anyone. Formed in 1988 and led by charismatic singer/bassist Eddie Spaghetti, Supersuckers caught with a crowd that appreciated the group’s license to shred within the confines of killer punk rock songs, along with lyrics that didn’t take things so seriously. So much so that the band’s legacy has grown over the years as has their rabid fan base. On Liquor, Women, Drugs & Killing, the Supersuckers joined forces with old friend Billy Joe Bowers, who produced the album in Atlanta. Spaghetti and Bowers were in a band in Tucson in the 1980s, and the Supersuckers actually recorded with the producer in 2007; however, that session was discarded due to band clashes. Even so, Spaghetti and Bowers remained close and in touch, so teaming up again felt natural. “Being produced again was new and helped the record a lot,” Spaghetti says of the sessions. “He was able to tap into something that we didn’t see, and the record is extra special because of that.” Specifically, Spaghetti says that Bowers envisioned the Supersuckers sounding like a three-piece, which isn’t something that he does when he was at the helm. What’s often the case is that the band will include various instruments to get exactly the sound they want. When they were in the studio, Supersuckers were as focused as they’d been in years, and it shows. The lyrics are sharp, yet dark and biting —the trademark of any Supersuckers song. Sonically, it is more upbeat than its cynical lyrics. The scorching first single, “Maybe I’m Just Messin’ With You,” reflects exactly that. In contrast, concocting the song, which was one of the last to emerge from his writing session. Spaghetti wanted a song on the album to have a “Motörhead-type song” on it. Here, he does precisely that. “We needed that vibe,” he explains. “I cranked it out quickly and didn’t think much of it until we started playing it and realized there was a lot more meat on that bone than we anticipated. So much so that it became the first single.” Other songs, like “Volunteer” (which Spaghetti calls hilarious because it’s a song about not volunteering), “Meaningful Songs” that starts acoustically before roaring into a big rock song (“Earnestness in music can be so boring and ruin everything for me but I’m very happy with that one”) and the pacey “Unsolvable Problems,” showcase the depth and range of the Supersuckers in 2025. The latter, which Spaghetti says is his favorite song on the record, features an exquisite Chandler solo and builds off the band’s on-and-off flirtation with twangy sounds. “In a perfect world, this song would be a huge hit,” Spaghetti remarks on “Unsolvable Problems.” “I like the way it’s featured on the record and could be on a country record.” As Supersuckers gear up for another round of touring, this album has given something the band hasn’t had in a bit: hope. “You don’t want to hope too much and keep your expectations low,” he says. “Still, I am excited about this. We have no business putting out a record this good this late in our career. It is what makes us the greatest rock n roll band in the world.”