Superdrag - Nothing Good Is Real

Superdrag - Lighting The Way

3:27 for March 27th

Please enjoy a few more minutes from my favorite Superdrag album. This song always cheers me up. It feels optimistic.

I’ve gotta find something worth bringing back to you.
If I can make things right, I’m gonna do it my way.

Superdrag - Cynicality

3:21 for March 21st

Superdrag - Baby’s Waiting

3:08 for March 8th

She had all the aces…

A pop gem from my favorite Superdrag album.

Superdrag - N.A. Kicker

I’m sure you’ve heard this one a million times before
You’re the one I want to adore and I can’t shut it up anymore
I just hope it’s not becoming a bore, ‘cause I can’t daydream anymore.

Superdrag - Unprepared

On another day
Any other day
We’d open our eyes
You’d be alive 

Today’s first song on shuffle made me cry in the car on the way to work today.

The past week has been tough for me and unimaginably tougher for some people I care about deeply.

This is Superdrag at their best. Even though the lyrical climax is so devastatingly heartbreaking, it stil comes across as positive and celebratory.

Superdrag - She Is A Holy Grail

5:12 for May 12th.

Chill out.

Superdrag - Way Down Here Without You

4:29 for April 29th.

This was my second choice for which Superdrag song to cover during 40 in 40.

This is just classic songwriting. It’s about his dog. Great song.

Superdrag - Keep It Close To Me (steelopus cover)

I’m surprised that no one correctly guessed Superdrag as my 40th band*. They’ve been one of my favorite bands since 1995. I’ve traveled to see them play in both NYC and LA (and others for a total of 8 shows). I’ve posted a lot of their music and I wrote a long review of their last release.

When I decided what 40 in 40 would become, I had a very short list of bands to include and Superdrag was at the top of it. The only reason they ended up as the last band is that I just couldn’t settle on a single song. There are literally dozens of tracks that are worthy of my attention (I would’ve had the same problems with both weezer and Pedro The Lion, but I recorded each of those two tracks before I committed to my rule of only one song per band). John Davis is one of my generation’s best rock n roll writers and anyone that didn’t write-off Superdrag as a one-hit wonder has been rewarded with consistently great music.

I slowly narrowed down my choices to five songs that I really loved and felt I could do justice, and ultimately settled on this track because I’ve always felt a really strong connection to how hard it rocks and to it’s lyrics. It felt like a very appropriate way to end this project.

I want rock and roll
but I don’t want to deal with the hassle.
I know what I know
but I don’t want to feel like an asshole.

It’s direct. Suspect. Insects have launched an invasion.
Chosen. Frozen. Poison in my vaccination.
I’m going to figure out what’s mine
and keep it close to me.
It’s supposed to be.

I’ve got rock and roll
and it used to deliver me sweetly
I’m not gullible
but I feel like I’ve lost it completely.

Let’s make the most of it right now.
Let’s make the most of what we’ve got -
God only knows where it came from.
Let’s make the most of it right now.
Why is it hard to imagine
making life worth the distraction from now on? 

I’m going to figure out what’s mine
and keep it close to me.
It’s supposed to be. 

Thank you to everyone that listened, liked, and reblogged over the past 40 days. Your support, both public and private, kept me motivated on the bad days and pushed me to be better on the good days. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I’m drafting up a post with my reflections on the project; look for it sometime this week.

*Nicky guessed it correctly via chat because she gets me.

(40 down. 0 to go.)

Superdrag - Drag Me Closer To You

I was a little worked up this morning and generalized about a lack of great rock music.  The truth is that there are still bands making great rock music, but now they’re the exceptions - not the rule.  I’m OK with that.

Superdrag - Way Down Here Without You

Last Call For Vitriol was widely overlooked, but there’s some great music on this album.  Today, John Davis and Co. are my power animals.

Superdrag - No Inspiration

It may be hard to believe, but this song wasn’t written in 1961.  John Davis has never been shy about wearing his influences on his sleeve.
This is just one of countless fantastic Superdrag songs that you’ve never heard.

steelopus:

Superdrag - September Gurls (Big Star)

I probably wouldn’t have ever known them were it not for this cover.