With so many bands in the world, it's simply impossible to hear them all. No matter how reasonable that sounds, however, it continues to be a source of frustration for me. Perhaps my desire to cover all grounds reflects some sort of Western indoctrination, or maybe I'm just generally curious. In either case, it's getting to the point where I have to start filtering out bands based on superficial reasons, like cover art or, in the case of Superlog, band names. Seriously, what kind of name is Superlog? Sounds like something you'd find in the company toilet rather than a name to describe a four-piece art collective from New York, a collective that's not only politically active (they are Libertarians), but one that also participates in art exhibitions all over Manhattan. They also make their own clothing, roll their own cigarettes, and ride bikes everywhere.
Yes, they're an ambitious bunch. Which is why I'm happy that I was able to overlook their embarrassing band name. But it did take a long time. I just wished they had a different name, you know? Of all the names they could've chosen, how could they settle on Superlog? Can you imagine four white dudes sitting at a table, discussing what their band name should be, and then they settle on Superlog? It literally blows my mind. Have they not heard of Supergrass? Superdrag? Superchunk? It's as if the '90s never happened to them, as if they've never heard of another band name that starts with "super."
But that's precisely the point.
Indeed, Superlog is an attempt to displace the temporal element of music. Like the recontextualization that happens in hip-hop, the Superlog EP is a postmodern gesture, an attempt to eschew conventional notions of linear time in favor for a circular conceptualization, the kind that involves a corporeal articulation unfounded in the sense of progressive temporality. In this sense, Superlog becomes timeless, a seemingly static indent on culture that will forever remain unscathed by the contingencies of time. It's about eternality, transcendence, beauty. It's about love.
I know I haven't really talked about the actual music that much, but I don't think it's my job as a music journalist to do that. The fact that a band names itself Superlog is something that should be examined, no matter how trivial it sounds. My job is to point this out, to show that everything means something. To show that even the most mundane observations can turn out be revelatory and exciting. Indeed, every new band has one of those long discussions of what they should be called, and I think the fact they chose the name Superlog means something. Something deep, something pure. Something right. This is all reflected in the music, and if you don't get what I'm talking about, you're coming from the wrong angle my friend.
1. Speakers in my Head (C'mon!)
2. Say Cheese.. It's a Cat
3. Indy Lube
4. Where's My Map?
5. Oh me
6. Funny You Should Say That (Cuz I Was Thinking That)
More about: Superlog
