SUPER WHATEVR - DON'T YOU WANNA BE GLAD?
With the success of their debut album Never Nothing, Super Whatevr are back with their usual charm and grace with don’t you wanna be glad? Alex shares their thoughts!
don’t you wanna be glad? is the second studio album by California based group Super Whatevr, who have had fans excited since the first singles were released, creating an abundance of bittersweet moments accompanied with an upbeat, happy tune.
First track ‘better’ opens the album strongly, sharing the idea of hiding problems in an attempt to show people that you’re better. The song adds the line “I gotta be something that I thought I would be by this age”, hinting to vocalist Mckee’s need to feel a sort of validation of what he is supposed to be, or what he wanted to be at his age.
‘so am I.’ was the latest single shared before the album was released, and this song also disguises a darker meaning behind an upbeat track. “Are you faking every smile? so am i” is a line that singer McKee has answered on Twitter, and also gives us the meaning behind the ‘:)?’ symbol that the band now uses as a logo. Blossoming onto the idea of self-care and self-importance, ‘i wanna be cool.’ opens with a dreamlike yet lo-fi vibe, discussing the thought of wanting to be someone better whilst still being happy with who you currently are.
‘eternity complex.’ brings the album a spoken word poetry style interlude shared with a calming beat in the background. With heartfelt lyrics and the honesty in the vocals, one can feel the true amount of guilt and pain in the words spoken. The track is a perfectly placed break in the album, and leads perfectly into the next song.
At a running time of only a minute and forty-eight seconds, ‘wesleepwedream.’ could easily help someone drift off to sleep, at least if you’re not paying attention to the lyrics, that is. The track involves three lines which are repeated throughout; , “How am I so horrible to you? How are you so horrible to me? We sleep, we dream,” making the track sound like an eerie lullaby.
‘holy anxious.’ is a good acoustic break from the pop-like sound from the previous tracks, which helps a lot to convey the feeling within the song. The song conveys the message about wanting to transform yourself into something someone else wants. “You’re the only thing that I love, and I used to love everything” brings in that sense of sacrificing everything for the person you love.
‘Meloncholyism’ is the final track on the record, and rightfully so. The track is a great way to end the record, the pop-like tune, and the lyrics work perfectly with each other, and ends the record with that dream-like state as in some of the previous songs. The bassline and drum in the end perfectly rounds out the song.
Overall, the album shows amazing growth from their first album, Never Nothing. Every track and album this band has put out has been without a doubt, better than the last, and we absolutely cannot wait to see what they come up with next.
Alex Davidson
★★★★☆