Monday, April 11, 2011
Creamtastic Superdrag’s John Davis Unveils Epic Ditch, The Privates’ Dave Paulson Unveils Norm, Cheap Time Unveil 'Another Time' Single [Tennessee Tracks]
Posted by Adam Gold on Mon, Apr 11, 2011 at 3:49 PM
OK, so Superdrag’s John Davis is from Knoxville (but kinda calls Nashville home), Cheap Time are from Nashville (but kinda call Memphis home), and local renaissance rocker and musically critical colleague Dave Paulson (The Privates, Pink Spiders, My So-Called Band, DJ D-PAUL and more) is, well, Nashville through and through.
Uniting these three representatives of Tennessee’s three geographical regions, in addition to their penchant for and ability to rock, is that each has unleashed some fresh tracks and — in the cases of Davis and Paulson — new projects for your listening enjoyment.
* First on the agenda: Scroll back to the top of this post to peep Cheap Time’s fresh vid for “Another Time,” their latest snot-nosed, neo-punk single, which just dropped on Cass Records — the label of Third Man Records' Official Pinball Wizard Ben Blackwell. The B-side is “Immediate Future.” E-mosey on over to the label’s official site and add it to your cart.
* Second on the agenda: While Tennessee power-pop favorites Superdrag are currently on hiatus, frontman John Davis has teamed up with famed locally based modern-rock producer Nick Raskulinecz — who you may recall from this Scene profile — former Slack drummer Nick Slack and Knoxville musician Stewart Pack, who, Davis tells the Scene, “played, wrote [and] sang for both of the all-time greatest Knoxville bands in my book (One-Nine Hundreds and Pegclimber)," to form Epic Ditch — a no frills, straight shot of balls-out rock. Like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter and check out their fresh tracks on Bandcamp. A sample track called “Go Forth and Ride” is posted below. It sounds like “Ace of Spades.”
- Sam Smith
- Norm cover art
* And last but not least on the ‘genda: Local-rock veteran (relatively speaking) and Tennessean music journo Dave Paulson has — under the moniker Norm — dropped a five-song EP on Bandcamp that shows the pop-savvy auteur presenting a lo-fi, casual take on new-wavy, dream-poppy, Brit-poppy faves like The Cure and The Smiths’ more sugar-coated moments. Check ‘em out, and/or purchase, them on Bandcamp. And sample a track below.
Comments (13)
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jimmy wrote: "what happened to the old super drag John Davis?? not a fan of the angry guy"
John found God — apparently the angry Old Testament version — and apparently God is a Libertarian/Bircher who doesn't like the President.
Funny, I thought Christianity was all about "hope and change," and that righteous anger was something to be used sparingly. Sorry, Johnny Flame, you seem to have finally lost the plot, once and for all.
Hey “Stu”, thanks for checking out the jams. You know, you’re right; Christianity IS all about real hope, and real change, not an advertising campaign custom-built to hoodwink a gullible, know-nothing public into believing that the bankers’ latest front man actually has their best interests at heart. I wouldn’t presume to know God’s feelings about the President, but I wholeheartedly believe that he wouldn’t be the President unless God ordained it. Best of luck to you.
Hey Mr. Davis,
I tried to find contact info on you but had a hard time. I figured since you just posted on here that maybe you will read this. My name is Ben Genson, I am the creative arts director at Rock City church in Columbus, Oh. I have been a big fan of your music for a long time and was wondering if you would ever be interested in coming up to our church and speaking. maybe just about your faith and the music industry, or whatever really. maybe even a song or two if we are lucky. anyway, just thought i'd give it a shot. If you're interested at all you can contact me at bengenson@rockcitychurch.tv and we can talk about what it would take to get you up here. hope to hear from you
thanks
ben
Thanks for the personalized reponse, "John Davis."
I wouldn't presume to know the mind of the Creator, either; I do know tha the Jesus I worship only got angry at the money-changers in the temple. The rest of the time, he forgave.
Whoever you are, you still sound angry; that only makes me sad.
If you're not the least bit angered by what's going on in this country [the bailouts, the chief architects of which netted hundreds of millions; the deliberate debasement of the currency/YOUR purchasing power; the death of the Constitution, and an out-of-control Executive Branch that takes orders from the UN, not the American people], OR what's being perpetrated around the world IN YOUR NAME [illegal, undeclared wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Libya, unarmed civilians massacred by the hundreds by drones in Pakistan... for starters], then honestly man, I don't know what to tell you. I feel sorry for you. In context, whether or not you're feeling the 'Ditch EP is... almost entirely insignificant.
"Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." -Thomas Jefferson
@Stu
I'm reminded of what St. Paul wrote: "In your anger, do not sin."
"Righteous anger," as it's called, can go a long way in staking a meaningful path in your life. And there is a tremendous difference between righteous anger and "self-righteous" anger. I've been listening to the new Epic Ditch stuff (as well as the last Superdrag album, Industry Giants) and it is obvious that John is pissed -- as anyone who is politically aware right now should be. But this is not a self-righteous anger John is singing in...not at all. Just open your mind and listen to the lyrics.
As well, there's nothing like a little (semi-ironic) punk rock nihilism to help spring your step a bit each day...But, in this case, it's always a qualified nihilism. If you don't like punk rock in the first place, I can see why this type of music isn't your thing, and that's cool. Personally, I'd love to hear more of the melodic stuff John can write, but I find this stuff interesting and it captures a lot of my own mood/thoughts at the moment, even if I didn't grow up listening to a lot of punk and hardcore myself.
i love Epic Ditch! and i also love Superdrag... John Davis put out "angry" songs even back in the day.. remember "Cuts and Scars" or "Bankrupt Vibration"? It was always there
We wouldn't be in the mess we're in right now if people weren'y so afraid to get angry.
I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's worth, banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter. Punks are running wild in the street and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it. We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat, and we sit watching our TVs while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be! We know things are bad - worse than bad, They're crazy! It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, 'Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone!' Well, I'm not gonna leave you alone! I want you to get MAD! I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot - I don't want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street. All I know is that first you've got to get mad! You've got to say, "I'm a HUMAN BEING, GODDAMNIT! My LIFE has VALUE!!" So, I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now, and go to the window, open it, and stick your head out and yell: "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!!" I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell - 'I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Things have got to change. But first, you've gotta get mad!... You've got to say, 'I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Then we'll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it: I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!!!~ (NETWORK)
John is unalloyed by compromise. I dig that about him. I envy it. It's why I admire him as an artist and will always check out where his head's at, whether I agree with him or not. He's wrestling it out, while playing some awesome licks. Dig the 'Ditch.
I'll take Christians with passion and conviction over Christians hiding behind the church walls, afraid of the world, and sticking their heads in the sand. How could you not be angry watching the coverage of our Congress spending more time on PR than working on the debt, the devaluing of the dollar, the stock market collapsing, the unemployment rate, and the incredibly poor condition on our public schools. Punk rock is about taking that anger and channeling it into a creative call to action. Let it fuel you to make a difference, not criticize an artist or call him "sad" for artistic expression that doesn't fit your "mold" for a Christian artist.
Greg C.
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