Releasing its self-titled debut at the height of the Seattle grunge explosion, like many others before them,
Sweet Water would fall prey to corporate rock politics. As painfully indicated by the frigid welcome afforded to the band's 1993 major-label debut, it became clear that the rookies had their work cut out for them on their follow-up. After the quick radio death of "Everything Will be Alright," the album sank like a stone. Even though the band continued to support the record on the road, they would incomprehensibly take one ridiculous tour after the other (case in point, they did a leg of dates with then labelmates
Winger). A worthwhile live entity, it was clear that
Sweet Water was a better unit than their record had led people to believe. For their second release,
Superfriends, the band was given the opportunity to make a lateral move (along with their A&R person) and release their sophomore effort on EastWest (an Atlantic subsidiary with a significantly less cluttered roster). Before the band could begin work on its record, it would lose guitarist and founding member
Dudley Taft. Reduced to a quartet,
Sweet Water joined forces with
Alice In Chains producer Dave Jerden and chose Eldorado Studio in Los Angeles to begin tracking. Emerging with a significantly stronger second record,
Superfriends definitely held commercial promise. Kicking off with "Cake and Strychnine," it's clear that the band came better prepared for round two. Singer Adam Czeisler's voice cooks as he leads the band into the super-infectious "Superstar" (which benefited from some significant modern rock airplay and should have been a monster hit). The lovely "Adelaine" and the very
Cult-like "No Syrup for Your Pancakes" are also strong. The ultra-melodic "Self Hater" showcases the band's more psychedelic leanings. All in all, a vast improvement over its debut, but still just an ordinary rock record. For fans of the mid-'90s Seattle sound only. ~ John Franck