Review Summary: The candy boys
It’s good to be appraised of Mark Palm’s versatility as a songwriter. A man best known for being a member of several
ttly br00tz hardcore/metal bands (see: Black Breath) kicks up the pure sugar vibes with his latest project, Supercrush. Admittedly, the direction of Palm’s evolution as a musician is a poorly kept secret, especially to anyone who has heard him in the San Francisco-based nu-gaze/dream pop act Modern Charms. With Supercrush, however, he fully embraces the pop side of his songwriting soul.
Released during October of 2013, Supercrush’s debut 7”,
Lifted b/w Melt Into You (Drift Away) was comprised of two relatively straightforward pop alt rock gems. The album drew instant comparisons to everything from 90s college radio darlings such as Swervedriver and Superchunk, to Bob Mould’s solo recordings and early-90s Taang! releases. The group’s second 7”,
I Don’t Want to Be Sad Anymore b/w How Does It Feel (To Feel Like You)? is a second maple syrupy dose, both contributing to, and building upon, the group’s established sound.
“I Don’t Want to Be Sad Anymore” is crafted around an absolutely infectious fuzz-pop guitar hook recorded with absolutely supple tone and exacerbated by an earworm chorus. Seriously, this is the kind of stuff that can get stuck in your head not for a day, not for a week, not for a month or year, but f-o-r-e-v-e-r. This song is best described as Swervedriver covering
Rubber Soul-era Beatles- incredibly addictive. As the guitars fade, the percussion of longtime hardcore drummer Aaron O’Neil takes center stage, as Palm croons in a smoother-than-a-newborn’s-ass voice “I don’t want to be sad anymore…I don’t want to make you mad anymore.” The song succeeds at delivering the goods that fans have come to expect of Supercrush in spades. The second A-side, “How Does It Feel (To Feel Like You)?” meanders a bit at a slower pace, but features another addicting guitar hook to complement some well-executed “la la la’s” in the backing vocals. It’s worth noting that both of Supercrush 7”s were recorded and mixed/mastered by Jackson Long of Hear Me Shimmer Studios and Carl Saff of Saff Mastering, respectively. This makes for a great continuity of the sound of both records, even though they both have their own unique nuances. Whereas
Lifted… was an album that focused more on the vocals and lyrical hooks,
I Don’t Want To Be Sad Anymore clearly emphasizes the actual musicianship a tad more.
It’s unclear whether Palm has enough songs in his back pocket to produce a Supercrush LP this year, but it’s a safe bet that more material will be released before the end of 2015. For now, I will be eagerly awaiting this newest 7” to arrive in the mail, so I may put it on my turntable, and allow myself to be drenched in saccharine succulence pure enough to rot the mightiest-enameled teeth.
