Three Out Change by Japanese indie rock quartet
Supercar must surely be in the running for the title of most audacious, absurdly overblown debut album ever. Opening with the poppy "Cream Soda," a track that could just as easily have been taken directly off one of
Ride's early EPs,
Supercar navigate a path that winds between feedback-heavy indie rock and slightly more clean-cut indie pop gems like early singles "Happy Talking" and "Lucky." It's ridiculously over the top and, at 78 minutes in length, at least twice as long as it needs to be -- in fact, by the time the epic final track, "Trip Sky," suddenly cuts out after twelve-plus minutes of shrieking effects-pedal abuse, you could be forgiven for thinking that the album had finally had enough and decided to shut up shop on its own accord. Nevertheless, it's this complete lack of a sense of when they've gone too far that makes
Three Out Change such an enjoyable and impressive album.
Supercar's ambition is matched only by their obvious love for late-'80s and early-'90s British indie rock, but originality can wait.
Supercar are not innovators like
My Bloody Valentine, but the fact is that despite (or perhaps because of) the length of this album, there is about one normal album-length's worth of genuinely terrific songs, every bit worthy to stand alongside the best work by
Ride,
Lush, or any other early-'90s shoegazers. ~ Ian Martin