It's always sad when a good band calls it a day, and the Super Eights were very good indeed. "Detroit" is off their final release, Sing Songs About States, and unsurprisingly, benefits enormously from a distorting, bang-on-a-can drum track and a sweet-but-snotty vocal that repeatedly warns all listeners: "Don't go back to Detroit!"
I can't make out all of the lyrics, but it seems The Super Eights fear of the Motor City has something to do with the local firebugs' decades-long history of torching of the central city on Devil's Night. In any case, "Detroit" is more about nailing a mood than conveying a message, and The Super Eights have that jangling mid-Sixties garage-pop thing down cold. Even the devilishly melodic guitar solo that breaks up the tune conjures that pulchritudinous moment in pop music when Tommy James helped make Michigan on the country's power spots for sock-hop-ready 45s.
The Super Eights are gone, and that's a drag. But thanks to chestnuts like this, they won't be forgotten.
A MP3 of the track is available in the related downloads at right.
MadTracks highlights and provides MP3s of songs performed by local musicians. All tracks here are provided with permission of the artist. If you are a musician based in the Madison metro area and are interested in sharing your work as a MadTrack, please send a message.
