3 out of 5

Label: Vagrant

Producer: Superdrag, The Anniversary (GUESS WHICH SONGS THEY EACH PRODUCED)

Both bands bring their A-game for a moment, both bands bring the average game for a bit.  The opening Anniversary track – O’Lady Butterfly – absolutely displays why this group grabbed the spotlight for a little while, shambling up a Beatles-esque melody but grinding it into something fresh and rough-edged, the stop-start moments toward the end of the song combined with some gang vocals really displaying the power of a young band that’s stumbled onto its own sound.  The next two contributions are good but equally display how this kind of frenetic creativity can crumble somewhat easily, the originality of the first track highlighting the generic pop of the other contributions.  Pleasant, but derivative.

Superdrag’s tracks all have the polish of a band who has worked together for a while, who know their sound.  Since it came on the hooves of “Valley,” arguably their best album, it has the dark-tinged rock edge that made that record such an effectively forceful listen, barreling into your speakers with the fun “Take Your Spectre Away.”  Again, though, polished or not, every band (or most) have a staple sound on which they fall back, Superdrag’s being a 70s-ish rock filtered through an awareness of grunge (this is a meaningless description yayy), and so the band follows the structure of Anniversary’s portion of this EP by tossing in a couple of okay songs to balance out the blast of “Sprectre.”  Are they good and do they rock?  Totes, they’re just not stand-outs for S-Drag.

Both sets should sprinkle newly entrenched ears with enough info to decide whether or not to pursue either band, and for followers, the initial tracks from each are worth the price of admission, for reals.