Supercrush Is Your New Favorite Power Pop Band with Thrash Metal Sensibilities

Clad in cut-off shorts and vintage t-shirts, Supercrush, the Seattle-based quartet of Mark Palm, Phil Jones, Sean Meyer, and Danny Paul, pile out of their small tour van into the hot and sticky summer heat. They are at the tail end of a month-long North America tour, promoting their new EP, Melody Maker. The last time we spoke with Supercrush was this past December when they were in town promoting their first full-length album Sodo Pop. Melody Maker was mostly recorded simultaneously and serves as a bright companion to its predecessor. The album's first single, “Trophy,” sticks close to the group’s '90s-inspired power pop formula without sounding redundant. 

Mark Palm, Sean Meyer, and Danny Paul performing with Supercrush at The Manor in Caldwell, Idaho. Photo by April Massey

“Perfect Smile, “ the album's second single, combines fuzzed-out power cords and shiny melodies to create the perfect backdrop for charming lyrics that redefine the unrequited crush troupe. 

Supercrush’s DIY roots, cultivated from each member's background in the Pacific Northwest’s punk and hardcore scene, have served them well. Palm creates the cover and marketing artwork for each album, while Jones does much of the studio engineering. The Melody Maker tour consisted of primarily independent and DIY venues, with one of the band’s last stops at The Manor, a DIY house show venue in Caldwell, Idaho. Unfortunately, DIY and independent venues took big hits during the pandemic, with many disappearing altogether. Bands like Supercrush, making independent venues a focal point of their tours, have enabled those left to begin the recovery process. We caught up with Supercrush after the show to talk about their new EP. 

AM: Your albums have a distinct aesthetic. Everything fits together in a specific way, from the music to the artwork and videos. Do you think about your catalog as a larger concept, or does it come together as you go?

Mark Palm: Some of it happens as we go, but a lot of the imagery will be planned years in advance. I will get an idea for a record layout, photo shoot, or cover art and collect the necessary items for the concept before the record has even been recorded. For example, our latest record has a green theme throughout all the artwork; I have been stockpiling green items for the past two or three years. 

AM: Do you have filing cabinets full of stuff you have collected for future albums?

Mark Palm and Danny Paul performing with Supercrush at The Manor in Caldwell, Idaho. Photo by April Massey

Mark Palm: I am not that organized, but I have a storage unit overflowing with different little trinkets and colorful items that will be used at some point in the future.

AM: Does that pertain to location scouting for video shoots as well? 

Mark Palm: Oh definitely. I am always keeping an eye out for stuff. I was really disappointed; there was this green wall in my neighborhood in Seattle that I had had my eye on for years. I intended to use it for a photo shoot for our current record; every time I drove by it for the past few years, I would think, “that is the spot.” A month before we planned the shoot, they repainted the building; now, it is entirely the wrong color. So now we will have to do a record centered around that color. 

AM: The sound and look of your albums have a very ‘90s sensibility; was that intentional?

Mark Palm: Not intentional in the sense of cashing in on any sort of nostalgia. We are not trying to blatantly copy anything that has happened in the past. The ‘90s was when I started getting into music as a young person. That has had a big impact on me and has shaped my sensibilities a lot. When I started this band, I intentionally returned to some of those influences that first got me into music; so, it was inevitable that the music and imagery for this band ended up being '90s-centric. A lot of the ‘90s stuff we were into was calling back to‘70s sounds and imagery. I think what we are doing now is very ‘90s focused, but there is also a ‘70s element that is less pronounced. 

AM: That ‘70s element is coming through much more on your newest album, especially with the artwork focusing on this bright, grass-green color that was used in a lot of ‘70s clothing and decor. 

Mark Palm: I did not do that intentionally, but that is really cool.

AM: Your newest single, “Perfect Smile,” has a duel feeling of longing but also envy. Was that your intention for this song?

Mark Palm: That is interesting. I have not thought about it in those terms. What about the song made you think about envy, imparticular? 

Sean Meyer and Danny Paul performing with Supercrush at The Manor in Caldwell, Idaho. Photo by April Massey

AM: Specifically, the lyric where you are saying, “your parents probably bought you braces.” It gives this feeling of “I wish I had that, but I also want you because you had that.”

Mark Palm: I do not think it is a case of being envious. As a child, I could have had braces, but I refused to get them. That is an interesting read on the song. We were talking about this the other day. We read a review of the song that spoke about possible classist aspects of the lyrics—like, not everyone has the means to get orthodontic work done, and to have a beautiful smile, you have to have pristine teeth that cost a fortune. That was not my mindset when I wrote the song, but it is interesting to hear those takes on the lyrics. 

AM: Obviously, other aspects go into someone having a perfect smile or a smile someone admires.

Mark Palm: Oh yeah. A smile can express a lot about someone’s personality. As someone with jacked-out teeth, I would like to think I can have a perfect smile too. 

Sean Meyer: We can just admit that this is all a payola scandal from the nine out of ten dentists from the American Dental Association. The song was paid for; it is a big conspiracy; you heard it here first. 

Phil Jones: Great teeth are the only way to have a perfect smile, nine out of ten dentists agree. 

Mark Palm: When I wrote the song, I did not have any sort of deep criticism in mind, so it is interesting to hear other people’s interpretations. 

AM: Have there been a lot of reviews focused on the deeper meaning of having perfect teeth?

Mark Palm: Not really, but the song has not been out for a long time. Positive or negative, I love reading a review of our music, where someone is expressing an opinion. Oftentimes the “journalism” is a regurgitation of what was in the press release. I appreciate it. 

Phil Jones performing with Supercrush at The Manor in Caldwell, Idaho. photo by April Massey

AM: You had talked about when you were playing in punk and metal bands, you would listen to music with a more pop sensibility on the side, but now that you are playing that kind of music, you find yourself listing to a lot more punk and metal. Is having that duality important to you?

Mark Palm: For sure. Part of it is being on tour and hearing that kind of pop music every night at the shows; it is nice to have a change of pace and listen to something heavier. When I was on tour with heavier bands, the last thing I would want to hear was more loud, abrasive music in the van. Even though we do not play metal music, there are still things we can learn from that genre that can be applied to our music. Even if it is not blatantly apparent, there are lowkey aspects of our music that are influenced by metal. Now and then, people will comment on that. Someone said to us, “watching you guys play is like watching a death metal band play power pop,” To me, that was the ultimate compliment. 

AM: What are some of the punk and metal elements that you use in Supercrush’s music?

Mark Palm: There is a level of precision that we are striving for that I learned from heavier music, like thrash metal. There is a lot of tight playing in unison in that genre of music. Subconsciously, I have applied that same approach to pop rock. I will listen to other pop rock bands that I am a fan of and hear two separate guitars playing two different melodies. That surprises me because I would never think to do that; it just goes against how I learned to play in a band. 

AM: Do you think there is a fundamental difference in the thought process behind making metal or hardcore music versus pop music?

Mark Palm: For me, there is no difference. Even when I was writing heavier music, it still had a pop sensibility. Even if the music was really aggressive or abrasive, I still wanted it to have a hook. I am not into extremity for the sake of extremity. I will not like a band just because they are the heaviest thing I have ever heard. I still want the music to have a memorable hook or some aspect that will stick in my head after I listen to it.

AM: Your music is very straightforward. It does not have a lot of frills or indulgences that tend to seep into the power pop genre.

Mark Palm: Some of my favorite bands are groups with no gimmick; it is just good songs. They are not the fastest, heaviest, or softest band to play, and they are not extreme in any direction. It can be challenging for bands like that to gain popularity because people respond to extremity. But, that is a cheap way to impress someone; winning over the listener through extremity instead of superior songwriting, which is what we are trying to do. 

Phil Jones: When we are recording songs, there is a good amount of layering, tones, and other things that will make them more complex than our live shows. We bring in some of those elements but not more than what the songs may need.

Danny Paul performing with Supercrush at The Manor in Caldwell, Idaho. Photo by April Massey

Mark Pam: So what Phil is trying to say is that we do have frills.

AM: Last question for you. Besides your own, what music is keeping you company on tour right now?

 Yesterday, we listened to Kool Keith’s Matthew album. Aside from that, we have been on a kick of ‘90s Canadian radio hits. Some are pretty bad; I have been driving Phil nuts with them. 

Phil Jones: I may have had one or two traumatic experiences on this tour. 

Mark Palm: What else have we been listening to?

Sean Meyer: We have been listening to the greatest band of our time, Beauty. 

Mark Palm: Oh, that is right. Tell them, Phil.

Phil Jones: We played with them in a basement in New Brunswick. Possibly the greatest band I have ever played with in my life. Or, in the history of planet earth. Beauty is so good. They have a few tunes on Bandcamp that everyone should listen to. 

Danny Paul: The Dead Soft’s new single. 

Mark Palm: Oh yeah, We listen to that at least —

Danny Paul: Every morning

Mark Palm: Every morning, sometimes multiple times in a row. 

Sean Meyer: The Beauty song to look out for is “What Have You Been Up To?” The Dead Soft single is called “Glimpse.” Excellent music. 

AM: The last time I talked to you, you were stuck on the early 2000s ultimate one-hit-wonder playlist.

Mark Palm: Oh yeah, that is still around. We have listened to it once or twice for sure.