There’s very little room to breathe on the forthcoming debut album from Boston four-piece Superdown, something the quartet aren’t especially concerned about—you have time to take stock after you’re finished with it, not during. Emotive and passionate, it helps that it’s also got hooks to burn. Racing through 10 songs in 32 minutes, Return to Sender is powered by an urgency that demands you sit up and listen, and one of the best examples of this ethos is the album’s third single, “Backbone.”
It makes for a great intro to the band, who waited to finish the album before showing their hand (though early versions of some songs popped up on 2021’s Live @ Pete’s House EP) and thus only released their debut single two months ago. A song about standing up for yourself in the face of the daily grind, it’s a vital part of Return to Sender, yet it could easily have been left off the record, according to drummer Corey LeBlanc. “At first we weren’t really sure how this song would fit in with the rest of the album,” LeBlanc shares. “It starts with an easygoing ’90s groove that gives way to a driving burst of energy, [because] periodically something does push you to sprint forward and reach for something better. It’s a great song to listen to when you need that kick in the ass speeding away from the office at 5 p.m.”
It’s a great song to listen to at any other time of day, too. Check it out below, and look out for Return to Sender when it drops October 20 via Count Your Lucky Stars Records.
