Waves
Studio Mouse Productions
By Scott Roberts
NOTES:
In the world of astronomy,
superclusters are large groups of smaller galaxy groups and are among the
largest structures of the cosmos. In the world of music, Supercluster is a
relatively new aggregation of
have just released their debut CD Waves,
and with its lineup consisting of heavy hitters from such current and former
Casper & The Cookies, and Olivia Tremor Control, this band of all-stars could
be described in the same way.
Surprisingly, considering the bulk of the bands the performers hail
from, the batch of songs on Waves is
decidedly non-danceable. Fronted by three of Athens’ finest female performers (Vanessa Briscoe Hay from Pylon, Kay Stanton from Casper & The Cookies, and
Hannah Jones from Sound Houses) and augmented by several other well-known
players (Bob Hay, Jason NeSmith, Bill David, et al), the songs tackle such serious
topics as war (“Time to End the War”) and death (“The Night I Died”), and
musically, the songs tend toward a leisurely pace.
Despite the lack of chances
to pogo, gyrate, or generally shake your booty, there are plenty of terrific
moments, especially “Mermaid’s Tale,” featuring some tasty tremolo
guitar/mandolin interplay and some distinctive clarinet from
multi-instrumentalist John Fernandes (Olivia Tremor Control, Circulatory
System), and the insidious minor key creepiness of “Copper Palo” which features
some classic Briscoe Hay lyrical crypticness (“We were given a gift long
ago/When we slept, where did it go?”) and may possibly remind some older
listeners of the still occasionally active Athens popsters OhOK. And on the
relatively upbeat “The Night I Died,”
asserts the fact that she possesses one of
One sad note: historically speaking, Waves
might be remembered not only as Supercluster’s debut, but also as one of Randy
Bewley’s last recordings as the legendary Pylon guitarist died tragically of a
heart attack earlier this year. Unfortunately, however, none of the songs really
feature his signature guitar work, and perhaps Bewley’s untimely death caused
an understandably black cloud to hover over some of the proceedings and
influence the mood of Waves. Despite
that possibility, Supercluster have produced a well-crafted and interesting
debut, but hopefully, next time out, this stellar group of artists will have
more joyous circumstances to work with and record something a bit more upbeat
and fun.
Supercluster play The EARL October 22. Tickets are available at Ticket Alternative.
