I was lamenting the fact recently that there seemed to be no Rock & Roll Heroes ready to ascend the throne of pre-grunge-fun-time-
beer-drinking-teased-hair-chick-banging-extended-adolescence rock. You know, the type of cotton candy odes to long legs and beautiful girls that were a staple of the Diamond Dave days of Van Halen, and taken up in the late 1980s by the more mediocre talents of Poison and Warrant. Fortunately, Bacchus has heard the cries of the forlorn children of the '80s and dispatched Supagroup to save our souls for rock & roll. You can suck down some cheap brews (and no doubt rub elbows -- and perhaps more? -- with big haired lassies of questionable morals) as part of their Dionysian revelry at Oct. 25 at The Spot.
The rocking brothers Lee (Chris on lead vocals and Benji on guitar) formed the genesis of their band in 1996 in the tundra of Anchorage, Alaska. Raised by a Pentecostal minister mother who denied the boys access to rock music, they took the Christian work ethic instilled in them and put it to good use: they moved to New Orleans in 1998, hooked up with bass player Leif Swift and drummer Michael Brueggen, and commenced to tour relentlessly, corrupting as many youth and nubile young ladies as possible along the way.
Too often contemporary rock bands wish to indulge their more introspective and existential aspects, but with Supagroup's mid-70s Stones and Aerosmith-inspired raucous riffs, you get nothing but straight-up, no chaser arena rock. Its most recent album, Rules (Foodchain Records, 2005) features such tracks as "Hot Times," "Let's Go (Get Wasted)" and "It Takes Balls" which boldly declares "It takes balls if you rock and roll." Or the sweet serenade to rubenesque ladies, "Hog Wild": "You want a piece of me? / She said come on and try / 'cause I'm a big girl..."
With the intimacy of The Spot, you can guarantee getting a little Chris Lee sweat whipped upon you. But don't be shy: it's probably been too long since you've been baptized by some badass boys of rock.
Supagroup plays The Spot; Oct. 25; 9 p.m.; $8; see www.thespotonpecancom for more info.