Review: Superfood - Don't Say That
By Travis Boswell, Staff Writer
[Infectious; 2014]
Rating: 7.5/10
Key Tracks: “Superfood,” “Melting”
On its debut album, Superfood has captured the sound of summer. Everything about Don't Say That invokes hazy, carefree days that melt into one another. Singer Dom Ganderton sums it up on “Melting,” singing, “Go outside and play,” so brightly that you can hear his smirk.
Despite this being its first release, Superfood's songs are all tightly structured and the entire album has excellent production. It’s a standard four-piece rock band, but the group deftly incorporates sampled drum breaks and a handful of feedback-heavy psychedelic trips. None of the songs on Don't Say That are longer than four minutes and each track smoothly transitions into the next. It's impressive for a debut album to be so polished; you can tell that these four have been together for a while.
Superfood's sound invokes '90s nostalgia, with drum breaks reminiscent of Beck and the tried-and-true grunge structure of soft verses and loud choruses. The best songs on the album subvert the expected, like “Melting.” This song builds up as if it will have a bombastic chorus, then strips down the instrumentation to the bare minimum.
Halfway in the song changes rapidly between a dance break, a guitar solo and a quiet cool down section. The chunky guitars of “Superfood” are aggressive, but Ganderton shouting, “You're always hungry!” and “I'm really getting hungry now!” makes the song more silly than angry.
Don't Say That is full of infectious grooves and bizarre lyrics, but it doesn't change significantly throughout. The vocal delivery doesn't differ much between songs and the drumming is repetitive until late in the album. The moment in “Melting” when the song completely changes is entirely unique, as the other songs stick to a basic formula with repeated lyrics. That kind of repetition feels more dated than old fashioned.
Despite that, Don't Say That is a breezy, enjoyable time. None of the songs are too long, making the intended experience of listening to the whole album at once even easier. The band's personality is established immediately in its whimsical lyrics and the songs will get your feet tapping even if you don't realize it. Like any good debut album, it shows what Superfood is all about. It's a small but satisfying taste that leaves you wondering when the next full course is coming.
