SuperHouse

Superhouse began 2010 strong by releasing this, their fantastic second album, and then sadly disappeared for the rest of the year. It doesn’t matter, though, because TECHyes shows an explosion of invention and vision that was unexpected even after the group’s charming, ramshackle debut. A huge record, everything the Austin quartet tries here works. The clattering percussive attack of “Sacred Rings,” the genre blending on “Vivan Las Estrellas” and “Creature Song,” poignant balladeering in “The Dilemma of Prince King,” hard rock in “The Courageous Confidence Character” and “Haunted House” and weird offerings like “Robots Attack!!” and “Heavens Forfend Their Victory.” “Megatron Magnifique” is as climactic and cathartic an album closer as any released this year. Hopefully 2011 will bring more activity from Superhouse, seeing as they’ve already got one undeniable classic under their belt.
- Austin Music + Entertainment

At the beginning of 2010, Austin’s hyperdriven fun-rock quartet Superhouse released TECHyes, which was one of the year’s best albums. Inexplicably, the band disappeared from view afterwards, with its four members heading off in different directions. Vocalist/guitarist Doug Pena and bassist/vocalist Greg Spencer went off and joined MaryAnn & The Revival Band, singer/keyboardist Phil Aulie got down to brass tacks and released the first Federal! State! Local! EP, and drummer Ben Tyler has been showing up lately as the back end for The New.

Excitingly, Superhouse announced a month ago they were re-forming for tonight’s performance at the Parish. It will be a very special reunion show, as the group is going to dust off their singular catalog and hopefully throw a few new numbers at the audience. “We Can Do It!,” “Heroes” and a few choice tracks from TechYES will probably be included on the docket, and the group’s energizing live show is a well-known (and much-missed) sight in Austin’s music venues. The Naturals, Little Lo and C.J. Vinson are also playing. Doors at 7 PM. - Austin Music + Entertainment

One of the first great live shows of 2011 happened last night at The Parish. Superhouse were well aware of the importance of their performance; they had not played live in over a year and had to hit the ground running. And boy, did they ever.

Phil Aulie came onstage wearing a red dinosaur cap and tail with a Phantom of the Opera mask, while Doug Pena donned an open-collar shirt and domino mask. Greg Spencer was stage center in a dapper blue suit and Ben Tyler’s drums had been situated at an angle that made him clearly visible and slanted into his fellow dance-rockers. The tableau was completed by two fairly frightening skeleton dancers. The opener, “Vivan Las Estrellas,” off of the group’s great TECHyes, was a far more savage take than the recorded version. The group nailed their show with killer instinct the whole night.

The dramaturgy onstage also lasted the whole night. The skeletons were joined by a surfer girl, a monkey and a rapidly-disrobing policeman who chased the whole consortium around the stage and through the crowd on the jubilant “Everybody Had Something Beautiful.” Jack Anderson, of Sip Sip, guested on trumpet and added considerable sonic range to several of the songs.

The group hit most of its big songs with a few surprises. “Heroes” was overdriven and anthemic, “Hollywood” was an ersatz sing-along and a new, as-yet untitled song with Spencer on lead vocals was had the pop sensibilities of The Kinks and the underlying dread of Radiohead. Throughout the show the band performed with so much confidence that it was clear the (disappointingly spread-out) audience was seeing a group doing what it was meant to. Ben Tyler was drumming so hard I was afraid he’d kill the kit.

The finale, “Megatron Magnifique,” hit all the crescendos and climaxes with the drive and vigor of a band renewed and refreshed. Each song last night was an epic experience. A perfectly considered and presented live return for one of the most exciting young bands in the city, this Wednesday night performance is currently the gold standard to measure concerts at the Parish by. There should have been more people there; if you weren’t you missed one of the best concerts you’ll never see. “Welcome to our triumphant return,” Spencer intoned at one point. He couldn’t have been more right. - Austin Music + Entertainment

One of the first great live shows of 2011 happened last night at The Parish. Superhouse were well aware of the importance of their performance; they had not played live in over a year and had to hit the ground running. And boy, did they ever.

Phil Aulie came onstage wearing a red dinosaur cap and tail with a Phantom of the Opera mask, while Doug Pena donned an open-collar shirt and domino mask. Greg Spencer was stage center in a dapper blue suit and Ben Tyler’s drums had been situated at an angle that made him clearly visible and slanted into his fellow dance-rockers. The tableau was completed by two fairly frightening skeleton dancers. The opener, “Vivan Las Estrellas,” off of the group’s great TECHyes, was a far more savage take than the recorded version. The group nailed their show with killer instinct the whole night.

The dramaturgy onstage also lasted the whole night. The skeletons were joined by a surfer girl, a monkey and a rapidly-disrobing policeman who chased the whole consortium around the stage and through the crowd on the jubilant “Everybody Had Something Beautiful.” Jack Anderson, of Sip Sip, guested on trumpet and added considerable sonic range to several of the songs.

The group hit most of its big songs with a few surprises. “Heroes” was overdriven and anthemic, “Hollywood” was an ersatz sing-along and a new, as-yet untitled song with Spencer on lead vocals was had the pop sensibilities of The Kinks and the underlying dread of Radiohead. Throughout the show the band performed with so much confidence that it was clear the (disappointingly spread-out) audience was seeing a group doing what it was meant to. Ben Tyler was drumming so hard I was afraid he’d kill the kit.

The finale, “Megatron Magnifique,” hit all the crescendos and climaxes with the drive and vigor of a band renewed and refreshed. Each song last night was an epic experience. A perfectly considered and presented live return for one of the most exciting young bands in the city, this Wednesday night performance is currently the gold standard to measure concerts at the Parish by. There should have been more people there; if you weren’t you missed one of the best concerts you’ll never see. “Welcome to our triumphant return,” Spencer intoned at one point. He couldn’t have been more right. - Austin Music + Entertainment

Any time a band as off-the-wall wild as SuperHouse plays their first show in thirteen months, you just gotta be there. The quintet plays that bouncy, bubble pop - like they’re rocking out in a carnival playhouse. With a supporting cast of gorillas, bikini babes and an ominous superhero cutout, SuperHouse made their return to the live stage one to remember. We’re still dancing over here. - Austin Music Weekly

Austin psycho-fun rock group Superhouse didn’t take any time off after the release of their debut, Friends Forever, Fighting Together. That album was a refreshingly ragged introduction to the quartet’s theatrical breed of sci-fi electro-alternative and it contained many excellent tracks, but it was also overlong and a bit too loose for its own good.

It was a good thing they didn’t rest on their laurels. The progression as songwriters and arrangers the group has gone through is immediately evident on TECHyes, when an echoing rhythm track leads off opener “Sacred Rings” and singer/guitarist Doug Pena’s candy-coated vocals morph into a chorus harmony that would be at home on the work of post Pet Sounds Beach Boys. TECHyes delivers exponentially on all the promises Friends Forever and their Fever Medicine EP made. It is one of the great releases of 2010.

Superhouse make the most out of 16 tracks on the recording, which measure up to a massive 76 minutes of extra-terrestrial dance music. The group benefits from having three strong songwriting voices working together in Pena, Phil Aulie (keyboards and ukulele) and Greg Spencer (bass). Aulie’s abrasive vocals and Spencer’s bubbly attack style meld beautifully with Pena, and even drummer Ben Humphreys gets in on the fun – he not only delivers his typically outstanding drum parts, his baritone voice gets a lot of exposure throughout.

There are several masterpiece compositions including, “Haunted House” fire-jagged, 1950's keyboard and guitar lines and a creepy lyric – “my house is haunted/I sleep with ghosts/the fallen heroes/defeated foes” – into a howl-at-the-moon chorus. “The Dilemma of Prince King” holds Pena’s finest vocal performance to date and reveals the legitimate sentiment and pathos Superhouse is capable of.

The album is laid out as a concept record, telling a tale about planetary exile and revenge. “Eighty-Thousand Eighty-Five” and its post-script, “The Spring of…,” lay out the story. The rest of the songs fit in even if they only forward the narrative in tangential ways. “Tin Men” is an epic, multi-part song that tips its hand to the band’s Queen influence. “Heavens Forfend Their Victory” charges with a heady, nervous momentum into ethereal Flaming Lips territory. “The Courageous Confidence Character” finds humor (Pena almost laughs during the song) and Led Zeppelin caliber riffing in exasperated existentialism.

Even the band’s gambles, like a mid-song rap breakdown by Austin hip-hop artist D.C. Parr on “Creature Song” or the found-sound instrumental medley of “Robots Attack!,” pay off beautifully during the record’s arc. “Floating Thru Space,” the penultimate track, contains lyrics that are a bit on-the-nose but the atmosphere is so intoxicating they’re beside the point.

TECHyes ends on its best and most triumphant song. “Megatron Magnifique” throws in everything the group has left with a kids-on-the-street choir, dueling trumpet and violin parts by Patrick McMinn and Alexa Skillicorn. It's an outro that goes on and on and on and closes the album with such excitement and cinematic prowess that even after the CD’s marathon runtime you want to spin it again.

This disc is filled with vital music, and with it Superhouse is primed to re-make the scene in its own image. The only thing they have to do is get the record out to the public. Catch the group now; they’re riding huge waves on the way to something else entirely.

by Jack Frink

- austin music + entertainment

This local quartet's 16-song sophomore LP is angled as a "rock opera," and the soulful vocal harmonies of opener "Sacred Rings" are certainly an interesting warm-up. Stylistically, TECHyes is all over the place, from Latin to prog lite ("The Courageous Confidence Character"), leaving the listener a bit light-headed. Still not sure what the "concept" is however. Robots? The future? Unicorns? Ambitious in length and scope, but fun to dance to. - Austin Chronicle

SUPERHOUSE NEEDS TO RESPECT ITS FOREFATHERS.

Any band that dresses up in orange jumpsuits, plays post-punk, and doesn't cite Devo as an influence on their Myspace page is going to get a "WTF?" from us. But we'll forgive Austin outfit SuperHouse, and you will too as soon as you hear their new wave-ish tunes, which sound like a mix of the "Whip It" boys, the Unicorns, and The Germs. Keep in mind that SuperHouse are still kiddos - only the oldest band member can order a beer - so their style could use some fine-tuning. But the group's young-hearted take on post-punk is good enough for toe-tappin' while sippin' a Shiner bought for $1 at Super Happy Fun Land's donation-only bar. Alice, Texas's Communal Death Duck and locals Something Really Dirty and the Baristas open at 8 p.m. 2610 Ashland St. For information, call 713-880-2100 or visit www.superhappyfunland.com. $7.

- DUSTI RHODES 06-21-2007 - Houston Press

"It wears me out a whole lot faster," says drummer Ben Tyler when asked how playing for Austin-based Alt-Dance Band SUPERHOUSE differs from the other 3-5 bands he mans the skins for. It's true: SUPERHOUSE's music is as infectious as it is energetic. Live performances see bassist Greg Spencer, guitarist Doug Pena, and keyboardist/ukulele player Phil Aulie jumping and jiving around the stage as they belt out fast-paced rockers like "Heroes" and "We Can Do It".

The four Austinites have been playing together for over two years now. They just finished their as-yet untitled second album. "The first record ("Friends Forever, Fighting Together") tried to capture our live sound," explains Aulie, "but while working on it was a bit difficult at times, this one is definitely better. The songs are darker, there's a huge variety."

"On our recent trip to Santa Fe," Pena adds, "the songs went over really well. We're excited about figuring out which ones will work live."

SUPERHOUSE's philosophy revolves around the "fun-loving" approach that has found success in performances. "If you're more into it onstage then the audience gets more into it," Pena says.

"When it comes to songwriting," he continues, "sometimes it's totally collaborative. We'll all bring something to put in."

"It's a mushpot," in Spencer's words, "we put in the same ingredients but something different always comes out."

Upcoming events for SUPERHOUSE include an independently-produced music video for "Heroes" and releasing their new album in December. "We want it out by the end of the year," the band says.

SUPERHOUSE will be playing Notsuoh in Houston in December. "I just want to make the people feel good about the trouble they went through to see us," says Spencer. With that goal in mind, SUPERHOUSE always delivers.

Jack Frink 11-08
- Envy/Texas Life