Chattanooga Pulse

Written by Hellcat
Wednesday, 25 March 2009 16:21

I remembered something about a band from Knoxville that used to rock faces off so hard with their guitar-driven rock and crisp lyrics that they probably had to take out a liability insurance policy. I lived in Knoxville from 1999-2003, and in that period I heard and saw some of the best music of my adult life.

Unfortunately, as bands are prone to do, a good many of them either broke up, faded out, or disappeared entirely. Fans are fickle, and if you stop putting out records, our little ADHD society tends to forget all about you. What was their name? What happened to them? Luckily for me, most of my friends are die-hard fans of this particular band and have been consistently reminding me that they did in fact exist. When one of these friends mentioned they would be playing in Nashville, my heart skipped a beat. Could it be? Are they back? A moment with the Internet assured me that they were playing Exit/In and they had a brand new record about to drop. Yessssssssssss!

The band is Superdrag, and they are back with such fervency it makes you question why they ever left. The last full-length album, with the exception of a few live records, was in 2002, and the last one with the original line-up was in 1998. Admittedly, a hiatus is good from time to time, to regroup and recharge. Whatever the reason for the break, it has evidently worked out for them because the new album, Industry Giants, is well worth the wait.

On the way up to Nashville, my buddy and I rocked out to the Superdrag backlog, from Regretfully Yours to Last Call for Vitriol, wondering what we could expect the new album to sound like with the nervousness of true fans that really don’t want their favorite band to suck. When we got there I was greeted by a very friendly and warm John Davis, the lead singer. We all headed to the green room with Tom Pappas, the bassist, for a little Q & A, tuning, and sock sewing. (Seriously.)