Photo By Stephanie Neal

Supersuckers

Saturday ¯ Mad Hatter

Nearly seven years ago, Supersuckers frontman Eddie Spaghetti decided that a decade with Sub Pop was enough and took the independent route by forming Mid Fi Records for his mutant Country/Rock outfit. Since then, Spaghetti and the 'suckers have self-released a string of live albums and their last full-length studio effort, 2003's Motherfuckers Be Trippin'.

Just after that, Spaghetti announced that he and his self-styled "Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World" would no longer release full albums and would instead issue a steady stream of EPs, starting with Paid in 2006. But response to the concept was lukewarm by the band's standards (they've sold an impressive 100,000 units as a true indie), so during their last foray into the studio, Spaghetti emptied his songwriting pockets and came up with enough tunes for a new full-length.

The new Supersuckers album, scheduled for an April release, is currently being mastered and has yet to be christened by Spaghetti, although a quick scan of the tentative song titles reveals "I'm a Fucking Genius" to be a sentimental favorite for a title cut. Closing in on their 20th anniversary (they debuted as the Black Supersuckers in Tucson, Ariz., in 1988), the Supersuckers show no signs of slowing down, having spent the last year playing an endless parade of clubs, motorcycle rallies and outdoor festivals here and in Europe.

While overseas, the band filmed a new live DVD in Belgrade, Serbia, which will be offered free to members of their fan club this month (check www.supersuckers.com for details). The band's current circuit showcases Spaghetti in a solo set backed by Jordan Shapiro, followed by the fully stocked Supersuckers (now featuring former Rev. Horton Heat drummer Scott Churilla) and their patented Punkabilly mayhem. (Brian Baker)

Jason Isbell with Will Hoge and Dawn Landes

Monday ¯ Southgate House

Sometimes the departure of a band member from an established and successful group can work like a stock split, which has clearly been the case with Jason Isbell and the Drive-By Truckers. Isbell's exit from the Truckers last year shortly after the end of his marriage to bassist Shonna Tucker forced them to regroup creatively, resulting in one of the band's finest albums to date, Brighter Than Creation's Dark.

Just as importantly, Isbell was compelled to concentrate on his long-discussed solo project, Sirens of the Ditch, which was finally released last summer to overwhelmingly positive reviews.

Photo By New West Records

Jason Isbell

Although Sirens of the Ditch marks Isbell's solo debut. the majority of the album was recorded while he was still with DBT, having worked on the 11-song set piecemeal over the preceding two and a half years. Although the album still sports a healthy amount of the sound that Isbell brought to the Truckers seven years ago, it also highlights the full range of the guitarist's diverse influences.

"A couple of the songs could have worked on those Truckers' records, but most of them are shorter and maybe more Pop -- I would say that, but the definition of that word is so different than what it used to be," Isbell says. "If you're thinking Pop like Big Star or Cheap Trick, it's probably closer to that. It's not necessarily as storyteller-oriented, although those things are in there, too.

"(The songs are) more personal, they're about me and people close to me rather than about bigger issues of class and culture," he says. "I don't see them as being too much different. They sound different because I made all the decisions about what got played and the length and what was written. But they're very similar to what I was writing with the Truckers." (BB)