does This Sound Exciting Yet?

Album Review

Is Superhopper doing it...for the love? That's a trite notion in 2004, and one that's usually couched in prose or artful spoof. And yet, there's really no other way to characterize the St. Paul-based combo's startlingly non-pretentious sound. They adhere furiously to the three minute (or less) ruckus pop song, and lead guy Kermit Carter yaps happily vacant placeholder lyrics that only tackle the tough subjects, like rock & roll buttons, or wondering what ever happened to Laraine Newman ("Blame it all on Chevy Chase!," Superhopper screams). There's some vintage punk residue here — Undertones, Buzzcocks — particularly in the smashed-together scraggle-rock of "I Am Scheming" and "New Fresh Midwest" (which debunks the validity of those three words in its shoutalong chorus). But for the most part, Superhopper seems built from old-fashioned (i.e. the 1990s) American guitar rock — Fastbacks, Mudhoney, Treepeople. Matt Piasecki's organ also adds a lot to this doin'-it-for-the-love equation, helping album highlights "Hoodoo Voodoo and the Paranoia," and "Something Real Cool" get away with all the huge, ham-fisted melodic shifts, as well as the little breakdowns, where his keys add some sizzle to Superhopper's distorted Midwestern beefsteak. Does This Sound Exciting Yet? might be the year's most perfectly-named album — it encapsulates Superhopper's boisterous rock racket, its eager anticipation of the next riff, and the wry winking and nodding that prove there ain't nothing going on but the love.