CD Review: Supercluster -- Waves; Playing The EARL October 22

Supercluster

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 Athens musicians who have just released their debut CD Waves, and with its lineup consisting of heavy hitters from such current and former Athens faves as Pylon, 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,” Stanton asserts the fact that she possesses one of Athens’ most distinctive voices.   

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.