Supersuckers and Scott H. Biram (aka The Dirty Old One Man Band), with King Sickabilly and Viceroy Kings, will be performing Dec. 3 at Cosmo Joe’s Atomic Lounge in Dayton.
Bassist/songwriter Eddie Spaghetti, the only original member, formed Supersuckers in 1988. Influenced by hard rock, punk and metal, the band was signed to Sub Pop and released its first record “The Smoke of Hell” in ‘92. By ‘97, the band made a definitive move toward alternative country with “Must’ve Been High” and has dipped its toes ever since.
Supersuckers performed with Willie Nelson at Farm Aid ‘95, toured with the aforementioned Ramones and White Zombie, and has continued its relationship with Nelson with the 2020 record, “Play That Rock N Roll,” which was recorded at the outlaw country legend’s home studio.
Reverend Horton Heat, Steve Earle and Electric Frankenstein have also collaborated on split EPs with the Supersuckers.
For the uninitiated, GeeGee recommends starting with the “best of” the Sub Pop years, a compilation called “How the Supersuckers Became the Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World,” its tongue-in-cheek final album on Sub Pop from 1999.
The band’s 12th studio album, “Liquor, Women, Drugs & Killing,” dropped in October.
GeeGee Bradley, the bassist and vocalist in Viceroy Kings, loves big and loud guitar rock. The Holy Trinity, in his eyes and ears, is Black Sabbath, the Ramones and Motörhead. Sabbath created the blueprint for what eventually became heavy metal. The Ramones did the same for punk. Motörhead is the one band that the punks and metalheads agree on.
“In all of my favorite bands, the coolest guy in the band was the bass player,” GeeGee said. “In Black Sabbath, the gloomy guy who named the band and wrote all the lyrics was the bass player. In the Ramones, the junkie street poet with the P Bass slung down to his knees that shouted ‘one-two-three-four’ to start songs was the bass player. Lemmy. Bass player.”
The “junkie street poet” bassist, otherwise known as DeeDee Ramone, is where GeeGee got his name. Just like the Ramones, every member of his old band the Migraines adopted the band for their stage surnames. GeeGee’s been playing bass in rock bands for over 30 years.
Viceroy Kings came about in 2017, with a bevy of local punk/rock legends at the helm: Brian Hogarth, Ed Lacy, Pat Jones and GeeGee Bradley, with drummer Chuck Pietrzak coming into the mix in 2024. The band’s debut full-length, “Drunken Alibis,” was released in 2022 on Tennessee’s Coffin Curse Records. “Cars, Bars & Weirdos,” the follow-up EP from 2024, was also released on CCR.
Viceroy Kings has appeared on several compilation records, including “Garage Years: A Punk Tribute to Early Metallica,” a punk rock Christmas record with a title that can’t be printed here, and the upcoming “Unity: A Tribute to Operation Ivy” (available the week of the Supersuckers show).
The band often been described as “cowpunk” — a sort of rockabilly/outlaw country style with the energy of punk — but GeeGee and the band all grew up playing big, loud guitar rock; Viceroy Kings is a rock ‘n’ roll band.
“All of us coming from punk rock bands,” he explained, “we hit drums hard and play big, loud, distorted guitars. It just kind of comes out the way it does. You do it because you love rock ‘n’ roll.”
Brandon Berry covers the music and arts scene in Dayton and Southwest Ohio. Reach him at branberry100@gmail.com.
HOW TO GO
What: The Supersuckers / Scott H. Biram with King Sickabilly, Viceroy Kings
When: 7 p.m. Dec. 3
Where: Cosmo Joe’s Atomic Lounge, 121 N. Ludlow St., Dayton
Cost: $20 presale / $25 at the door
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