Bring Back the Old

ALBUM OF THE DAY
Superdrag - Stereo 360 Sound, released 1998 (Superdrag Sound)

Stereo 360 Sound was the first release by Superdrag, a six-track cassette demo that originally came out in April 1994. Several of its tracks were eventually released on singles, and one, "Whitey's Theme," was re-recorded for the Knoxville quartet's major-label debut, Regretfully Yours. After their two-album sojourn in the majors, Superdrag's first step in setting up their own label was to collect these early songs, adding four extra tracks — including B-sides — to early singles and unreleased demos. Listening to these songs in retrospect, it's surprising how fully formed Superdrag's noise pop aesthetic was in the very beginning. Clearly influenced about equally by Hüsker Dü (they cover Grant Hart's "Diane" here) and the Beatles, Superdrag's music balances the feedback and the harmonies much better than many bands of this type, never allowing one to dominate the other. However, the rough and ready production, by the band and engineer Nick Raskulinez, does emphasize the hard edges of songs like "Nothing Good Is Real" and "N.A. Kicker" a bit over sweetly poppy tunes like "My Prayer." - Stewart Mason (allmusic.com)