Soundtrack of Your Life: Superdrag - Sucked Out & Do The Vampire

SUPERDRAG - SUCKED OUT from their 1996 album, "Regretfully Yours"
" " - DO THE VAMPIRE from their 1998 album, "Head Trip In Every Key"

I was psyched to see Superdrag in the lineup for one of Paste Magazine's parties at this week's SXSW music festival in Austin, Texas. This Knoxville, TN band provided 90's radio with sparkling pop with a punkish attitude that I myself loved to death. I don't normally like to focus on more than one song for Soundtrack of Your Life, but these singles begged to be reviewed simultaneously.

"Who sucked out the feeling?" describes everything that I feel about music these days. Ironically, this is the rousing call to arms that forms the foundation for Superdrag's 1996 single "Sucked Out," a badass tune about record industry greed and cluelessness; a popular theme with 90's rock bands, many of whom were often on major labels. Again, ironically, this single proved to do so well for Superdrag and its label, Elektra Records, that Elektra provided support for their next album on the condition that there be another radio hit just like "Sucked Out."

To this, Superdrag was like hell-to-the-naw, and took that money and made 1998's "Head Trip In Every Key," an album full of songs they liked but everyone else didn't, which yielded only one radio-friendly tune, "Do The Vampire." I am a fan of this record, and especially loved "Do The Vampire." It was one of my practice songs on my guitar after I first learned how to play at 19. Fun song to play and to listen to.

Please enjoy this extremely pleasant blast from the past:



That Caesar 'do was the Rachel 'do for white guys back in the 90's. Remember George Clooney back then? Future "House of Style" post!



Superdrag - "Do The Vampire" (2002 - Live at 12th and Porter, Nashville, TN)

South By Southwest Music Festival, Austin, TX - March 18 - 22

SXSW - AUSTIN, TEXAS - MARCH 18 - 22

South By Southwest has been kicking ass since 1987 offering new music to the world, and in 1994 film and interactive (the web and emerging technology) conferences were added to the whole shebang, for a more well-rounded spectrum of fun. This year, the festival's already been swinging in the film and interactive arenas since the 13th, but the music conference doesn't start until the 18th. Still time for a road trip or hop on a plane for a mini-vacay!

I love that on the front page of the SXSW site that they asked singer-songwriter Meiko to pretend she's 15 and put three songs on a mixtape for her crush, and since it would have been 1997 when she was that age, she puts down DJ Kool's "Let Me Clear My Throat," Luscious Jackson's "Naked Eye," and Erykah Badu's "On and On." Perfectly 90's.

Here's a copy of the music schedule, and Paste Magazine, Oh My Rockness, and Afro-Punk all have the dirty lowdown on parties and must-see bands.

If you're going out there, lucky you! As Rick James might say, "Enjoy yourself!"