Superdrag – In the Valley of the Dying Stars

I’m in love with Superdrag’s 1996 album Regretfully Yours. I bought it as a teenager for the “buzz” single “Who Sucked Out the Feeling?” and immediately put it on infinite repeat. The album is a power-pop masterpiece from an era that neglected that sort of music. It’s dense with hooks, and every song has at least one. Best of all, there’s a real commitment to melody. Predictably, Superdrag didn’t get much promotion and nobody bought the record. Nobody but me, that is. For a decade, I’ve been sneaking solitary tracks onto mixtapes I’ve made, secretly hoping someone would ask about them and I could share this record with another person.

Oddly, despite how much I adore Regretfully, I never looked for a follow-up until a few months ago. Based on my familiarity with their debut, I had high hopes for In the Valley of Dying Stars. It’s not as good as Regretfully Yours, but it’s a solid rock record. I found that after a few listens, I could sing along to parts I remembered, which is a good litmus test for power pop.
I will definitely seek out the other 2 albums they recorded since Regretfully Yours—A Head Trip in Every Key and Last Call for Vitriol.