Brooklyn-based Suckers just released their first full-length album, entitled Wild Smile. The title is incredibly fitting as a “wild smile” is probably the best way to describe the look on my face while listening to it.
My first encounter with the group’s music was late last year when I first heard the opening track from the album, “Save Your Love For Me” and was absolutely hooked. It starts off with a slow, sweet melody to ease the listener into the album, but just when you think the rest of the album is going to sound like the last dance at a high school semi-formal, a reverse echo and a bass drum kick in, ushering you to a falsetto-driven trip into an epic rock ballad.
After that first taste, I didn’t really know what to expect. I mean, I love a good old-fashioned rock ballad as much as the next Meat Loaf fan club member, but surely a full album of them would be a bit too much. Luckily, the rest of the album, while equally awesome, is quite diverse and versatile. In fact, a listen through indicated that there were really only three major things that were consistent across the album: 1) all of Suckers‘ songs refuse to stay still – in tone, in tempo, in style, in everything; 2) there is a consistent drive towards euphoria in the music – more often than not songs tend to end in a signature epic falsetto; 3) the lyrics are often absurd, but in a hilariously awful way (see: “This world’s a colonoscopy, Save your love for me” and “Your heart is like a crippled demon’s semen on your clothes”).
Anyways, at the end of the day, maybe all that has to be said is that this is a seriously amazing debut effort from Suckers, and that hopefully there is tons more to come.
[mp3] Suckers – Save Your Love For Me
[mp3] Suckers – A Mind I Knew