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Must've Been High

The Supersuckers took a sharp turn off the rock'n'roll highway in 1997 with their fourth album Must've Been High, which saw them travel for the first time "down that old dirt road to the country". I'd previously heard 'Born With a Tail' (from The Sacrilicious Sounds Of The Supersuckers: album #3) so had an inkling of where they'd driven from to get there, but this was my first proper introduction to their music. It's far from a perfect record, but twenty-five years on I still get a kick out of playing it. Mine is a German-made CD copy.

The sleeve-notes promise "Simple [...] three-chord songs, sung from experience", and that's what we get. The subject matter encompasses the pleasures of recreational drug-use ('Non-Addictive Marijuana'); the end of a long night's revelry ('One Cigarette Away)'; the morning after the night before ('Hungover Together'); the hazards of being on stage ('Barricade') and the travails of life on the road ('Roadworn and Weary'). There are some sweet love songs too ('Blow You Away' and 'Hangin' Out With Me'). Sonically, the basic guitar, bass & drums blend is leavened with the likes of pedal steel, dobro, fiddle and mandolin. The recording and production are excellent.

Singing at lower than his accustomed volume against a sparser instrumental background does highlight the limitations of lead vocalist Eddie Spaghetti's voice, especially on 'Hungover Together' where he duets with (and is outshone by) Kelley Deal. The lyrics are a tad awkward & weak at worst; exquisite at best. My favourite tracks include 'Roadworn and Weary' and the fatalistic 'Dead in the Water'. Best of all though is a hidden track ('Supersucker Drive-By Blues') which is appended to the ostensible closer 'Hangliders'. It begins quietly, with a vocal and acoustic guitar intro featuring some of Spaghetti's finest turns of phrase, before opening out into a majestic rock'n'roll workout featuring a guitar part by the legendary Willie Nelson, no less.

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