Supersystem - A Million Microphones

As far as the music press is concerned, Supersystem didn't fare so well when known as El Guapo. After jumping the Dischord ship for Chicago's Touch and Go Records and relinquishing their former name to avoid legal troubles, the quartet issued Always Never Again. The debut under the new moniker and label was promising, but its overall performance was weakened due to monotony, excessively repeated vocal lines, and reliance on previously used formulas. A Million Microphones expands on the former's strengths, and reimburses those who paid good money for a debut that felt half-assed more often than not. Supersystem hasn’t drastically changed directions; in fact, they're still playing the same game than on Always Never Again. The difference this time is that it's more vibrant and compelling, instead of stagnant and recycled. Befitting of the "disco/punk/funk" tag still, but often employing elements of world music, A Million Microphones showcases an extremely valiant rhythm effort, while overall vocal quality has improved and individual songs stand on their own. Never ones to be the quotidian dance-punk group. Supersystem displays a keen knowledge of melody and rhythm, and the chops to enforce it. Rafael Cohen's thin, otherworldly guitar tone and play are unmistakable, while Justin Destroyer and Joshua Blair comprise a rhythm section tighter than even the hippest hipster's t-shirt. Discerning an obvious meaning from the songs is difficult; vivid images of flora, fauna and natural landscaping are rampant yet again. "Eagles Fleeing Eyries" regales listeners with the conscious politicizing of birds, and though allegory is likely, nonsensical imagination is nearly as probable. Guest musician Justin Sparhawk provides additional instrumentation via a harp--yes, a harp--which oddly settles in comfortably with the flurry of winged references and club-friendly verses. "Joy" is the band's ultimate ode to African and Middle Eastern music, snaking a guitar line around polyrhythmic percussion. "The Pinnacle of Experience" details drug-addiction, all snazzy, spaced-out synth and ocean-deep, fuzzy bass. Album closer "Revolution Summer" seems to outline the writer's move to the District and the being enveloped by the transformation of the city's music scene during that time period; the scope of that summer's influence has to be incalculable, or at least history has deemed it so. A Million Microphones isn't quite the landmark album Supersystem is capable of making, but it's more than a few steps in that direction. There are sparks here and there that hint of what's to come, and as the band welcomes more variety in their own personal listening tastes, it seems as though the palette from which they choose their colors grows and grows. [www.tgrec.com]