Category:
Rock / Punk

Try if you like:
Posies, Teenage Fanclub, Tsar

With the announcement that Superdrag is to reunite for another album I thought it would be a good time to review their rarities/demos/8-track/live collection cleverly named Changin' Tires on the Road To Ruin. 5 of these songs are alternate takes from songs you've heard before but the real treat is the 9 songs that never made it past the 8-track studio stages. The set opens big with a great power-pop track called "Here We Come". How this one never made it past this stage is staggering. This is a wonderfully hooky and moody song. That's followed up with a Beach Boys-like "She Says". Then "My Day (Will Come)" recalls some of the best Superdrag songs of their career. "Sleeping Beauty" is a bit of depressing number but in the same breath well done. "Comfortably Bummed" shows you the perfect power-pop template to follow. It just oozes hooks and melodies. If you know anything about Superdrag you'll recognize "Keep It Close To Me". Fun to see this track in it's raw form like this. Same with "Extra-Sensory". "Relocate My Satellites" is a nice inclusion in this collection as well. So although the audio is not quite in a "finished" form it is still nice to see some of these songs actually get an official release.

The two live tracks here are "Lighting The Way" and "True Believer" recorded in a small club in Nashville. I was lucky enough to see Superdrag live in Arizona a number of years ago. John Davis is a man with heart, soul and enough talent to keep this band alive in the hearts of the people who care to listen to wonderfully crafted power-pop. 

Watch out for their new album due out in 2008. Should be a nice return to the Headtrip In Every Key days. Changin' Tires on the Road To Ruin is not for everyone but anyone who enjoys wonderfull pop/rock music will appreciate what this collection has to offer.