Sometimes it makes you sick. Sometimes it takes all night. Sometimes it takes nothing less than an exorcism to purge the static electricity and plug a rock band into a new source of power. Writ large in 20,000 Watt neon, ROCK MUSIC is the Superjesus rewired, recharged and reborn. In our opinion this is our first record, says Sarah McLeod. This is our number one. Its the first time weve got on tape the essence of the three of us. Its what weve always wanted to do and weve finally captured it. As far as history is concerned, ROCK MUSIC is the 3rd album from Adelaides foremost rocknroll export. But it marks a new start for a band that refuses to stand still between albums, one that pursues evolution like a heart-stopping chord change seeks the perfect tune. ROCK MUSIC finds the Superjesus honed to its essential ingredients, Sarah McLeod, Stuart Rudd and Paul Berryman: the soul survivors of a turbulent trip since ARIA Awards for Best New Band and Best Debut Single in 1997 kick-started one of Australias great rock success stories. 1998s SUMO and 2000s JET AGE both went platinum, both spawned enough airplay to put the Superjesus on the highway to hell and back too many times to count. Some didnt make it. Chris Tennent split after SUMO. His replacement Tim Henwood broke ranks last June. We were in London, Sarah recalls of the trios pivotal moment. Yet another new guitar player. No one was really focused. What are we doing? Where are we going? We had a terrible flight home, no one was talking to each other. It was looking like the end of the band for sure. I got really sick when I got back, throwing up, no idea why. It sounds trippy but it was like some sort of exorcism, like all these bad vibes had to get out before I could start again. I slept for days and when I woke up, everything was totally clear. I knew exactly where we were going. Within hours, Let It Go, Manic and Medication appeared in one compulsive, solo songwriting binge. Suddenly I was in my little boat of positivity, hauling everyone in, says Sarah. I called up Paul and Stuart: Dude, youve got to get back on board. This boats goin somewhere. The singers newfound strength quickly rubbed off on her comrades. Stuart makes his songwriting debut on the aptly titled Stick Together and Closer and Pauls extraordinary work on These Dreams illustrates a fresh burst of energy from the Superjesus back line. Its fitting that the last link to the bands creative roots came from deep in their past. The trio befriended UK producer Marc Waterman (Ride, Ash, Elastica, Swervedriver) while living in LA in 98. His mysterious return in the Superjesuss darkest hour looked a lot like fate. It was the same disastrous trip to London, Sarah recalls. Stuart came in and said Now this is weird: a message from Marc Waterman. How did he find us here? They quickly arranged to meet again: at Mangrove Studios in country NSW, where ROCK MUSIC was recorded in late 2002. Marc turned our usual approach upside down. I was always so uptight about everything, really stringent, every beat had to be in place, but he was like No no no! Its rock music! Just play it from the heart, start to finish, dont stop. I was nervous at first but the results were incredible. Marc captured this unique thing we never had: the sound of the band live. Everybody was flying by the seat of their pants all the way. Paul was playing on sheer instinct. I was making up lyrics while I was actually recording them. It was all about trusting ourselves completely. Though Tim Henwood and Chris Tennent had early input into ROCK MUSIC, the core trio soon realised there were just three keys to the Superjesus chemistry. Live vocals, spontaneous instrumental combustion, even the odd perfect demo add up to their most honest and direct album. Whether the songs are good enough, thats all I worry about, says Sarah. I like to go that extra mile. You can write a song and its finished or you can keep honing and honing. A tiny tweak of phrasing or melody might give it that magic hook. Thats always in the back of my mind. The philosophy pays off big time on ROCK MUSIC, from the trademark wall of guitars on the first single, Stick Together, to the pulverising grunt of Shudder to the soaring, incredibly delicate acoustic love song a Superjesus first So Lonely. Its the first time Ive written on my own and it felt really good, Sarah says. Its the obvious way to get directly to what I love about a song without having to cut through the bullshit. And the whole band, all three of us, are right into it. For the first time, this is just us. It feels fantastic.
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