The Supers conceptually and musically are a fun and accessible lot. The band's debut CD Spklanng! released in mid-1999 comes along during an economically pleasant time when folks are surrounded by all that is 50s-modern and retro. From the infectious "I Don't Wanna Talk," to the melancholy "Only You," Spklanng! has the makings of a great summer CD. Good timing hopefully for a band whose previous incarnation � Fall Down Go Boom - slammed head on into the early 90s wave of grunge.
"We were just too optimistic," admits the Supers' frontman Maury LaFoy.
"Grunge just did us in and we were having a hard time booking club gigs, it was awful."
Fall Down Go Boom had migrated to Toronto in 1993 after five years in Montreal, where the band had developed a loyal following. The Toronto music scene was welcoming and full of possibilities but LaFoy still looks back on those years as a both good and bad. FDGB went through a lineup change and the release of their second CD, "199," in 1994, which was followed by a cross-country tour. By 1995, however, the band had hit a brick wall. LaFoy and guitarist Graham Powell, high school friends from Regina decided to tough it out, they changed the band's name to the Supers, Halifax-native Jeff MacPherson had already joined up and Tim Bovaconti of the Lost Dakotas was recruited. By 1998 they were shaking their earlier malaise and recording Spklanng!

LaFoy and Powell continue to be the driving force behind the Supers, handling all the band's songwriting and even its hip website. According to the Supers' press kit, all four members can boast of playing in 21 bands in live and studio situations. "Now at least there are more bands that are about 'songs,'" says LaFoy citing big name acts like Blink 182 who also perform short tight tunes.

After listening to Fall Down Go Boom's first CD, one can hear how the songwriting has shifted and matured over time. Producer Michael Phillip Wojewoda who worked with The Barenaked Ladies, the Rheostatics and Spirit of the West helped give Spklanng! its sound while Renaissance man Kurt Swinghammer gave the CD its stylish look. Swinghammer designed the CD art in the spirit of an old Archie's comic book, even the music credits are neatly hidden in an old fashioned magazine advertisement.
"I worked with Kurt on a couple of things and he's a such a fan of pop art, so he came up with this idea of the Supers being superheroes. And we just let him run with it."

LaFoy enjoys recent media comparisons to Fountains of Wayne and the Jags and when asked if Canada has its own brand of power pop, he comes to the conclusion that it does.
"Here in Canada, no one commits to anything too strongly. You don't have to have a Rickenbacker 12-string, so to speak to be a pop-band."

In fact, Spklanng!'s closing song "Near Death Experience," is nothing short of psychedelic, as if to say those comic book characters created by Swinghammer will eventually grow up into 60s hippies.

"Ever since we formed the Supers, we've recognized this is the 'fun,' project," says LaFoy, who does double duty with the band Starling adding that working in two bands has actually given him more free time. <>P "A couple of years ago I was spread out pretty thin. I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I was going to this studio and doing this gig but now with Starling, I've been able to streamline a bit," he says.

"I loved being so busy but when you added all the work that I was doing it didn't really work out to much." Besides in a country and market the size of Canada it makes sense to be in two bands.

"Even the country's biggest bands can only make so much music and do so much touring," says LaFoy.

Although only 29, LaFoy does have more than ten years experience in the music industry, and can speak rather wisely about what he wants from the Supers.
"Ideally it would be nice to have a song on the radio and to do some touring."

"Having observed people with record deals it's not as wanted as it once was," he says.

"Now if you can build a loyal following and do some touring that's almost better than getting a major record deal and being thrown to the lions."

(the Supers� single "Turn," taken from the album Spklanng! is now available on the IndieBlast CD sampler, available in Molson Canadian 24s across the country.

Upcoming Supers� dates include a Canada Day appearance in the Market in Ottawa, an opening bill for Brian Wilson at Toronto�s Molson Amphitheatre on July 20, the Hillside Festival in Guelph on July 28 and the IPO Festival in Los Angeles on August 3)