God, I’ve missed Eddie Spaghetti. As leader of the Supersuckers, the guy put out one of the top ten rock records of the ’90s with 1999’s The Evil Powers of Rock ‘N’ Roll. His anthems, from “Born With a Tail” to “Rock Your Ass” and everything in between, gave country-punk the AC/DC-sized kick in the ass it always needed. Well into the 2000s, he was killing it every night live.
But forget all that for a minute.
I miss him almost as much for his balls-out super-rocker persona and razor-sharp wit, which has allowed him to bill the Supersuckers throughout their career as “the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in the world” and write tongue-in-cheek self-tributes like “I Want the Drugs” and “I’m A Fucking Genius” without ever turning the Supersuckers into a Tenacious D-type comedy band. Plus the guy writes the only fan-update emails I can’t wait to read, they’re hilarious and strange and all too honest.
Of course, neither myself nor any other Supersuckers fan has gotten one since Februrary of last year, which is indicative of how the wheels seem to have been falling off the band for years. The Supersuckers always seemed to me like a model for 21st century indie bands—they put out records on their own label and released absolutely every inch of live tape they could, not to mention that they were masters of merchandising. They connected to their fanbase in the way that we were told every band would thanks to the Internet. Except it turned out to be a hell of a lot of work, 24/7, so most bands quickly gave up trying, other than the occasional Facebook update, tweet, and requisite dead MySpace page. Not this band though—they were incredible at using every digital and analog tool at their disposal to create a little Republic of Supersuckers, making the most out of their cult stardom and always seeming like they might break big at any time.
.The Supersuckers Bring Long Overdue Comeback to Blank Club on July 18
