In 2003,
Motherfuckers Be Trippin' revived the
Supersuckers nameplate. Issued through their own Mid Fi imprint, it riffed and smirked with renewed zing and estimable sleaze. That air of lovable gracelessness carries over to
Suckers' main man
Eddie Spaghetti's first solo effort, a messy and grinning bucket of covers called
Sauce. In his liner notes,
Spaghetti trashes the whole idea of solo records, especially those that consist solely of covers. But in typical fashion, that doesn't stop him from doing his own.
Sauce features quick and easy, largely acoustic versions of outlaw country faves from
Kris Kristofferson ("Best of all Possible Worlds") and
Willie Nelson (the mirthful and giddy "Gotta Get Drunk"). There's also a run through "Cocaine Blues," but his isn't underpinned with terror like
Johnny Cash's. Instead,
Spaghetti cranks it out steely and fast, like it was the last song of the middle set in a Tuesday night dive bar gig. He gets a tad serious -- or at least heartfelt -- with
Steve Earle's "I Don't Want to Lose You Yet," but it's back to a bleary-eyed cross of honky tonkin' and low culture slummin' for "Peace in the Valley" (originally by A3): "Well I got ecstasy/But I need some company." That sentiment continues for "Killer Weed," the better of
Spaghetti's two originals here. As he does throughout
Sauce,
Eddie adopts a sort of deadpan
Lee Hazlewood persona for the track -- he might as well perch a raglan horse head on the lip of a six-foot bong.
Sauce isn't country, and it doesn't rock like his day job. But from end to end, it drips with the same dastardly good-time juice that defines the best
Supersuckers stuff. ~ Johnny Loftus