Superman is Dead is back with their latest album, The Hangover Decade, touted as the best thing they’ve ever done and launched next week, Friday Dec 10 at Hard Rock Cafe. The Beat caught up with Jrx to find out what’s behind the hangover

It’s the middle of the day and I’m sitting in the darkened precincts of Twice Rock Bar on Jl Poppies, Kuta’s backpacker central. But while tall blonde Scandinavians with golden tans peruse DVD stores outside, here the Bali Punk Rock underground continues to foment. This place is really Superman Is Dead’s spiritual home. It was here they played their first gigs 10 years back, a more intimate time when it was all about them connecting with their loyal local fans. Things may have changed, but Jerinx, SID’s mercurial drummer, still loves playing small venues.

‘Punk is about letting it all out – anger, hate, whatever. When we perform, we’re trying to connect with the audience on that emotional level, so the band and the crowd are experiencing the same feelings together. That’s how we come together.’

10 years down the line and they’re still Doin’ It Their Way, though of course things have changed. The new album, their fifth, is called The Hangover Decade “cos we all basically spent the last ten years drinking!” Jerinx recently gave up following some liver troubles. “I only drink beer now, no more arak” he tells me. Errr, right. It’s not just about booze though – the new album contains a lot of “psycho-social” stuff – more than previous ones, Jerinx claims. The first single is called ‘Muka Tebal’ (literally ‘Wide Mouth’) and is basically about how so much shite out there right now is fake. They just finished doing the video clip with a couple of Australian filmmakers Jerinx met after the bomb. “It’s kinda cool…there’s me, Bobby and Eka all doing our thing down at Twice – Bobby’s in his T-shirt shop, I’m getting a tattoo and Eka’s in Suicide Glam [Dethu, manager of SID’s on-site punk funk boutique] and someone runs in and tells us we’re supposed to be playing a gig somewhere. So we zoom off on these cool low rider bikes and get to the venue and there are these air-brushed look-a-likes playing our songs and the crowd’s loving it. So we kick them off the stage and start doing our thing and the twist is everybody hates it!” Point being, not only is the industry coming up with all this manufactured gear, everyone is falling for it too.
But SID are still keeping it real.

Another of the issues the album addresses is the lack of harmony in the punk scene. It’s a tight community, yet there’s too much rivalry on the underground according to Jerinx. When it comes to SID this often takes the form of ‘Major Label Beef’ – fellow bands and their crews claiming that SID sold out, that they’re not punk anymore. “But look at The Clash or Sex Pistols – they both signed to major labels and they pretty much defined Punk”. For Jerinx, The Clash are a major influence in terms of how they presented themselves. “Those guys were smart – they weren’t about sensationalism, like cutting themselves on stage or violence and stuff. They were all about the music and the energy it creates. It doesn’t have to be destructive. I think we try and be like that you know.”

So how has cutting out drinking affected the new album?

“Oh, I think this is our best work yet. You know we used a metronome for the first time, just to keep it really tight! Also, we made the album here in Bali, that might be a first for a major label release and we’re kinda proud about that. This is basically the best sound we’ve ever produced. That’s thanks to our genius soundman plus we have a lot of collaboration with local musicians. There’s even some Mexican style trumpet in there and some Reggae stuff too….a lot of different elements”
If you want a slice of realness, to cut away the pop-dross, pick up The Hangover Decade. Punk’s alive and well, even if it’s having families.