All pent up and angry: Sub: The Supersuckers rock Vail

The Supersuckers have been described as “The Ramones in a head-on collision with Hank Williams,” with emphasis on collision.For years they were all about rock and roll, the hard variety. Recently, they’ve been flexing their alter ego: country. Hard country. As Playboy Magazine put it, witnessing a Supersuckers country act is probably as much fun as watching the Dixie Chicks mud wrestle<if only they would consent to it.So Supersuckers it is. They’re playing tonight at 8150.”We’re going to get them all pent up and angry, and when we return, we’re going to rock their pants off,” said Eddie Spaghetti (bass, vocals) about the Vail show.They’re touring in support of their new album “Must’ve Been Live.” With songs like “Good Livin’,” “Must’ve Been High” and “Hungover Together,” the album is a gritty “warts and all” experience. With guest appearances from Willie Nelson’s daughter Amy, Audley Freed of The Black Crowes and Mickey Rafael of Willie Nelson’s band, there’s no shortage of talent.”People will mostly hear our country side on this trip, much to our guitar player’s chagrin,” said Spaghetti. “It’s a very rare treat, as we like to say.”Fans of the group were shaken a bit when they began experimenting with country, and showed it with the usual hate mail.”We kept getting requests for more country, and then some people got upset and wanted just rock,” he said. “There’s just no pleasing those bastards.”According to him, most of their fans have settled in to the split personality concept, and support both.”The show still kicks your ass. It’s a whole different vibe, and we’re lucky that it’s something we get to do. The songs breathe a little more.”Thematically, the songs aren’t any different than their hard rock hollers, but their lyrics are more up front.”I like to scream,” said Spaghetti. “I’ve been doing it for 14 years. You’d think I’d be better at it.”According to Spaghetti, the group isn’t about musical perfection, or about practicing to make it perfect. They’re interested in recreating that first-time magic of playing together, and the only way to do that is to let it flow.”We’ve really tried not to change,” he said, laughing. “I hate bands that evolve and grow<I like bands that stay the same over and over and over, the remedial groups … that caveman feel.”Spaghetti is responsible for most of their songs. (Their name evolved out of some adult literature they discovered in high school.) To keep with the feel of the group, Spaghetti doesn’t write his songs down<hence his aversion to calling it songwriting. He simply makes them up, teaches them to the group, and hopes everyone, including himself, remembers it in the studio.”You never know how a song is going to come to you,” he said. “You might be talking to someone, and they’ll say something that starts you going. You’re like a lightening rod, waiting for something to hit you.”They’ve toured extensively both nationally and internationally, though this is their first time in Vail. They’ve found a fan base in Spain and Japan, as the people there “have good taste.”Supersuckers perform tonight at 8150 in Vail at 10. Call 479-0607 for more information.Wren Wertin can be reached via e-mail at wrenw@vaildaily.com or phone at 949-0555 ext. 618.