Hokus Pick

Item: Super Duper
Author: Bill Cliff

Super Duper

(1999)

Reviewed by Bill Cliff

Discogs Apple Music TIDAL Spotify

Label Freedom RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth1999

alternative rock pop rock power pop

Super Duper is all that we've come to expect from Hokus Pick--melodic Christian pop rock at its very best. Unlike their two previous releases, Bookaboom with its edgy, garage band feel or Snappy with its bouncy, sometimes horn-laced anthem flavorings, Super Duper does not find the group venturing into new musical directions. Instead, it is the work of a band that has managed to define the full extent of its pop rock sensibilities and is quite satisfied with the results.

Highlights include "This Is Me"-- an in-your-face, B52s tinged chronicle of the weekly ups and downs that accompany a determination to follow the Master's footsteps, "Christianese"--a Steve Tayloresque jab at the imposing vocabulary that infuses evangelical circles, and "Happy Club"--a refreshing view of the local church that follows the discovery that it is truly a place
of refuge.

Long time fans will find lead singer Russ Smith and company revisiting familiar lyrical themes--self doubt and insecurity, the struggle between the old life and the new, and a heartfelt desire to find God amidst the world's distractions. Yet, despite the uncertainties that surface in songs such as "Learning" and "Anybody Else," Super Duper exudes an underlying sense of confidence, contentment and unabashed optimism that has not been consistently evident on earlier albums. One gets the feeling that the band, having wrestled long with the "when I want to do good, evil is right there with me" dichotomy of the Christian life, has reached the point where they feel free to revel in the fact that, as children of God, each of us has received a spirit of sonship not a spirit of fear.

Super Duper is comfortably Hokus Pick - chock full of finely crafted pop songs, laced with delectable musical hooks, and sprinkled with enough quirky humor and zany vocals to keep a smile tacked on throughout. Like a pair of well-worn slippers after a long day on your feet, Super Duper is reassuringly Hokus Pick. Ahhhhh.... Slip it on and enjoy the comfortable familiarity.