ARTIST: THE SUPERJESUS
ALBUM: THE SUPERJESUS
RELEASE DATE: MARCH 21ST 2025
REVIEWER: ANDREW TREADWELL
Most bands have their first album as he self titled, but Adelaide born rock stalwarts The Superjesus kept that aside for the right time, and that is now.
Starlight kicks the album off, and it does so in epic fashion with a Cam Blokland guitar hero moment, even before one word is sung. The push and pull dynamics of this song is just amazing. It builds into an epic chorus, The song tells many stories, but the over all theme is love. As a family man, certain lines make me think of my wife and others my kids.
We Won’t Let Go Until Its Over is one of the previews we have had leading up to the album and its made its way into being a live staple. A fun song about never giving up on the things that are important to you. People will think its a relationship, for me this one is also about the bands founders Sarah McLeod and Stuart Rudd raising a middle finger in the air and pushing forward and showing how much they love what they do.
Romance has some amazing textures, you get some cool electronic keyboard layers, with some great crunchy guitar work which weaves along with Sarah’s vocals. Stu Rudd’s thumping bass tells its own story and really anchors the track. This track has some great potential and I can see some remixes for this one for sure
Money (We’re Only In It For Love) Sarah’s vocals are highlighted making the appeal and radio-friendly sound of this track. The songs timeless take on pop-rock and its anthemic feel just makes you wanna sing along, but its a stark reminder that you should do what you love, and money means shit if you don’t have the love. Once again McLeod’ and Rudd’s love for this shine through and Cam Blockland shows why he is the right guy for the lead guitar slot, he plays for the songs and not himself
Diamonds was originally slated for a McLeod solo outing, was turned into the monster piano ballad it is, with the boys giving the song a huge backbone for Mcleod to lay her lush vocal melodies over the top, the production not only on this song but the whole album, took me back to a time where albums, were produced with love and care and designed for the listener to take it all in, from beginning to end
Something Good another Ruddy bassline anchors this gem, and its a dance rock classic, which for me is a mix of a love letter to the band and a love letter to someone or something special? Did I mention Ruddy’s bass? It’s pretty damn epic.
Lonliness Is The New Black – the amazing Eagle’s-esque intro immediately drew me in. The modern day lighter song for sure. Make sure your phones are charged for this one people, you will be lighting up the venue for sure. For me this is that Epic song that you listen to as you watch the credits of the most amazing movie you have ever seen. Its retrospective tone just makes you feel a comfort, and another amazing guitar passage from Blokland is just what the song needs. Oh wait till you hear all the vocal harmonies in this song. WOW, Just WOW
Gangbusters is a ready made set opener, its got a pop punk sensibilities but most of all its just a bloody fun rock song, and once again the bass monster himself Ruddy makes those 4 strings do all the talking making sure the foundation is rock solid. Amazing interplay with Cam’s guitar and Sarah’s voice in the bridge section is just freakin’ killer, this needs to open the set on the next run, the end of the track is ready made to end an 80s superhero TV episode
Dancing With Myself the band cover of the Billy Idol / Gen X song that TSJ have been ripping into live for a while now, and they have made it a set closer of late and its just been an amazing book end to the shows. I am so glad it was included on the album as I bloody love watching them bust it out live. Its now a “Generation TSJ” song
Lights Out, this amazing track is the bands dedication to Rita Riman, McLeod wrote “Rita was a longtime fan – she was a member of the band’s very first fan club in the early-’90s. A group of music lovers met through our message board called ‘Static’… before Myspace was invented… this group became very familiar to us and attended all our shows for the next couple of decades.
“Rita struggled with mental health issues for many years but her saving grace was always music. Sadly, a couple of years ago we lost her, and it sent shock waves through all of us.
The band did a wonderful thing by ending the album with this track, its just an amazing rocker which reminds us how great the band is
With one foot dipping in Hells Kitchen and the other firmly planted in a forward direction, the nucleus of The Superjesus, Sarah McLeod and Stu Rudd, once again delivered a firm fuck you to the naysayers. Might of taken a few small decades for this latest outing, but its worth the wait, because they do it on their own terms and they wont let go, until its over, and only they can say when its over.
