Supersuckers
Must've Been High
Sub Pop, 1932 First Ave., Ste. 1103, Seattle WA 98101
Release Date: 1997
Steve Earle & The Supersuckers
Steve Earle & The Supersuckers
Sub Pop, 1932 First Ave., Ste. 1103, Seattle WA 98101
Release Date: June 10, 1997
Out on the open range, there must've been a fair share of lazy, shiftless cowboys along with the Lone Rangers and the John Waynes. Maybe they would've been the ones to throw Supersuckers' latest LP on the gramophone while they were bumming around the general store.
Must've Been High is not dour, righteous folk-rock, nor is it a whiskey-slugging barroom romp. It's an often funny, occasionally tender, 1990s-style retelling of the down-and-out country-music saga. Only this time, the self-conscious slackers wear flannels and Doc Martens instead of Stetsons and cowboy boots. It would have been too easy to mock country's clip-clop rhythms and exaggerated hard luck stories. Thank god Supersuckers resisted the temptation to land a cheap shot at old Hank Sr.'s expense.
But why would they? Must've Been High isn't really about the slackers at all. It's about the lonely cowpoke nursing a drink in a ramshackle roadhouse somewhere outside Waco. Well-crafted story-songs like the title track and "The Captain" -- the tale of a country band snubbed by the music-biz glitterati -- show that their hearts are in their music much more than their tongues are in their cheeks. Even better is "Roamin' Round," a gem of a story about loneliness and boredom and finding someone to share them with.
And what more credibility do you need than the ringing endorsement of World's Angriest Country Singer, Steve Earle? Earle teamed with Supersuckers on a five-song companion EP, that gives the gravel-voiced singer a chance to strut his punk-rock best while adding a Texas twang to Supersuckers' Seattle sound.
-- Chris Schwartz
schwartz@outersound.com
