I had great expectations for Postcards from Paradise, the Supervillains’ sixth album, but I had to confess to guitarist/co-lead singer Scott “Skart” Suldo: Paradise, produced by Brett Hestla (Virgos Merlot, Framing Handley), is fine, but 2008’s Massive was great. He politely disagreed.
“We tried to write some songs here, not just jam and do solos or stick to the same subject matter,” said Skart, who sings along with drummer Dom Maresco. “This time we wanted to write some good music to cruise on the beach with the windows rolled down.”
The hook-filled album is more crowd-pleasing than Massive, and for this tour the core of the band (Skart, Maresco, and bassist Dan Grundorf) will introduce the band’s two newest members: sax player Nathan Anderson (of JunkieRush) and young keyboardist T-Rex. They replaced college-bound Cardo (trumpet) and Smally (saxophone).
“Having a piano player is natural for us, because many of the songs I write I write them on piano,” said Skart. “This new line-up maintains the level of musicianship and brings the energy level up even more.”
As in previous albums, Postcards from Paradise is a collection of reggae and ska songs and a handful of fast-driving indie rock numbers. But this time, the approach is a little different.
“We’re getting out of the old music we listened to and have new influences now,” said Skart. “We’re listening to more Elvis Costello and The English Beat, stuff that incorporates more rock than reggae. But we’re still a reggae band.”
At their best groovy moments, the Supervillains sound like Sublime, and just like the late Brad Nowell’s band, neither Skart nor Maresco try to sound “black,” nor do they engage in pseudo ragamuffin poses as done by your average (bad) ska/reggae group.
“That’s one thing we definitely don’t do,” said Skart. “We’re Southern boys from Florida, man. We’ve been at the beach our whole lives, and I don’t find the need to try to be anything other than what we really are. We’re just South Florida kids who like the beach, skating, surfing, and smoking a little dope. We’re the Swamp Beach Boys.”
The Supervillains
With Less Than Jake and Off With Their Heads
$16.50-18.00
Tue, Feb 15, 9pm
Backstage Live
1305 E Houston
(210) 698-2856
detourtickets.com