Today I am thrilled to release an album that I’ve been working on tirelessly for the past 6 months. This is a note for note, top to bottom cover of what many fans consider to be the best Superdrag album, 2000’s ‘In The Valley Of Dying Stars’. I’ve wanted to do this for years and the circumstances of 2020 presented me with the time and space to finally do it. Today marks the 20th anniversary of the album's release, so it only made sense for me to use this as the motivation to finally complete and release the project.

For as long as I can remember this has been my favorite album to play along to when I sit behind my drum kit - and the accessibility of Don Coffey Jr.’s drum performance is what first inspired the idea that I could actually record a full tribute to the album, on which I performed all the parts myself, including live drums. As a guitarist and bassist I’m fully confident in myself, but there aren’t many albums for which I could do the drum parts justice.

While some tributes and covers see the performer transforming the songs and adding their own voice, I was hellbent on trying to duplicate the album as accurately as I could with the equipment I had, doing everything* myself. In April I began to record all the drum parts, moving along to the bass, guitars, keyboards, and vocals, before finally spending the past month mixing and fixing. All told, I’d estimate that I spent about 1,000 hours on the project.

20 years ago today, quite literally within 10 seconds of pressing play for the first time, I knew I was going to love this album. In the years since, it has earned “desert island disc” status for me - undoubtedly one of my five favorite albums of all time. It’s among the most pure “rock and roll” records I’ve ever heard, with each song exuding energy and emotion. There’s an undeniable momentum to the first four tracks, each one faster than the one before. It dares you to stop listening. Before you know it you’re into the meat of the album where the next five tracks perfectly represent the breadth of the band’s sound. John Davis has never been ashamed to wear his influences on his sleeve, and they’re front and center here, from The Beatles, to Big Star, to My Bloody Valentine. With three more songs, including the title track closer (my favorite), it’s over… and 21 year old me is reaching for my Discman to listen again. And again. And again.

I’ll never forget seeing the band play on November 1st, 2000, at Runwayz in Buffalo, NY, to a crowd of fewer than ten people, including myself and two of my friends (Nicole and Steve) - just two weeks after the album’s release. I’d already obsessed over the album and was shocked to see the room empty. Buffalo’s loss was our gain, as we were treated to what was essentially a private show, and the band did not disappoint. The band was legendarily kind and generous with their time after the show, obviously thankful that we had shown up when so many others had not. I’ve met my fair share of professional rock bands and Superdrag tops the list when it comes to showing their appreciation to fans. I recommend searching YouTube for some live footage from the ’98-’02 era to see just how much passion these guys put into each and every show. Pure rock and roll.

I hope you’ll enjoy this tribute - but more importantly, I hope it’ll inspire you to check out the original album. I truly think it’s one of the best albums of all time. Incredible songs. Powerful performances. Perfection.

You don’t need to know the back story of the album to appreciate it, but it makes it all the more satisfying if you do, so definitely head over to Magnet to read the wonderful oral history that they’ve published in honor of the anniversary.

magnetmagazine.com/2020/10/16/true-believers-an-oral-history-of-superdrags-in-the-valley-of-dying-stars/?fbclid=IwAR2F4V18P4wQ87fk4xfv4eLDiVnhbtcIgHhIOHTOSg9RXoWvfn0RDX1vSh4

*Almost everything; thanks to my friend Rachel Sankey for contributing the piano part on ‘Unprepared’!