Thursday, January 17, 2008

Dream Supergroups

In my job, I have to drive a lot. This usually causes my mind to drift in so many directions. Recently, I wondered about creating the ultimate supergroup. A supergroup is a collection of incredible musicians who are more potent as a whole than they are individually or in their current bands. Of course, I mostly considered indie/alternative bands that I listen to, but it is my blog.

What I did was put together a group of artists I think would compliment each other well. I tried not to include more than two members of the same band, but I did put together some people who have already worked together in various projects. The idea was to create supergroups that would not only sound great, but could actually get together. (Please forgive my geekery.) Also, I did not consider any actual supergroups (like The New Pornographers or The Million Dollar Bashers).

Read through a few of these bands. Let me know what your supergroup would look like.

Band: Junkie Cowboys
Members-instrument (other bands): Carla Bozulich-vocals/guitar (Geraldine Fibbers), Mike Watt-bass (Minutemen, Firehose), Nels Cline-lead guitar (Geraldine Fibbers, Wilco), Mark Lanegan-vocals (Screaming Trees, The Gutter Twins), Dave Grohl-drums (Nirvana, Foo Fighters), Gretta Cohn-cello (Cursive, Twin Thousands), and Warren Ellis-violin (Dirty Three)
Influences: Hank Williams (I and III, not II), Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, John Doe
Sounds Like: Junkie versions of your favorite country songs with a bend toward the anthemic. "Are those cowboy boots in the mosh pit?"

Band: Pretty Boy with a Pretty Mouth
Members-instrument (other bands): Stephen Malkmus-vocals/guitar (Pavement), Chan Marshall-vocals/piano (Cat Power), Corin Tucker-vocals/guitar (Sleater-Kinney), Janet Weiss-drums (Quasi, Sleater-Kinney, The Jicks), Laetitia Sadier-keyboards/vocals (Stereolab/Monade), Joephine Wiggs-bass (The Breeders, Dusty Trails)
Influences: Beat Happening, Blondie, X
Sounds Like: Portland's answer to The New Pornographers only punkier, more experimental and absent that pop gleam the Pornos do so well. A lot of duets between Malkmus/Marshall, Malkmus/Tucker, or Marshall/Tucker.

Band: Screen Door
Members-instrument (other bands): Jeff Tweedy-vocals/guitar (Uncle Tupelo, Wilco), Ryan Adams-vocals/guitar (Whiskeytown), Neko Case-vocals/guitar (New Pornographers), Gillian Welch-vocals/banjo, Jimbo Wallace-upright bass (Reverend Horton Heat), John Convertino -drums (Calexico), Sam Coomes-organ (Heatmiser, Quasi)

Influences: Anything in No Depression
Sounds Like: An alt-country fan's wet dream.

Sorry for all the alt-country references, but those are the best supergroups sometimes. There's so much good Williams/Cash/Nelson material to cover.

Again, let me know what you think of these supergroups and name your own. All of mine have the slight possibility of happening, but you could name your own supergroup with any musicians: dead or alive.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Journey was a super group (Santana, Steve Miller Band, Frank Zappa band, the Babys). It can never be topped.

comoprozac said...

I don't know if I want to include bands that consist of session players who somehow had a few cheesy hits in the late seventies/early eighties. I expected a response from Jeff, but I also expected a fantasy supergroup of John Bonham, Jimi Hendrix, and Frank Zappa.

douglas said...

Drums: Jamin Orrall (Be Your Own Pet)
Bass/Guitar: Judah Bauer (JSBX)
Vox/Guitar: Cole Alexander (Black Lips)
Vox/Guitar: Ryan Scully (Morning 40 Federation)

Not sure what you'd call this concoction other than "indi slop." Most nights the band falls to pieces and gets 86ed from more than a few venues. Not sure of their name.

Angela said...

Band: Alcoholic Jogger

Vocals/guitar Jeff Tweedy (Uncle Tupelo), guitar Brian Henneman (Bottle Rockets), vocals/songwriter Todd Snider.
Influences: Robert Earl Keen, Will Kimbrough

Band: steal guitars (pun intended)

Vocals: Bobby Bare, Jr, and Johnny Cash

Vocals/guitar: Wayne Hancock, Hank III

Influences: Reverend Horton Heat, Blue Suede Bombers, Social Distortion

ATR said...

Band: Voce Modesta

Members:
Colin Melloy-guitar/vocals (The Decemberists), Eef Barzelay-guitar/vocals (Clem Snide), vocals-Morrisey (Smiths)

Influences:
Luis Bunuel, William Burroughs, Gilbert and Sullivan

Sounds Like: The "indie" version of the Three Tenors, or, your older brother coaxing you to sleep by singing his creative writing dissertation to you.

comoprozac said...

Let's review your submissions...

Douglass-This band sounds rawkin'. However, is the kid from Be Your Own Pet old enough to drink?

Angela-You just upped the alt-country quotient ten-fold.

ATR-If your band ever hits it big, there may be a tragic shortage of black-rimmed glasses throughout the suburbs.

Meghan @ Life Refocused said...

My favorite band you created is definitely Screen Door. I also dig Angela's suggestion.

I can't put the whole group together, but I've always fantasized Michael Stipe and Natalie Merchant to form a band. Yes, I know they have a few, hard-to-find songs together. You all can help fill in the musicians.

comoprozac said...

MG-I think Wilco sans Tweedy should be their back-up band.