Super 8 [CD]

The Amplifier Heads - Super 8 [CD]

The Amplifier Heads’ follow-up to 20 22 album Rectifier and the 2024 soundtrack to They Came To Rock, Norty Cohen’s sci-fi rock opera about aliens coming to Earth after receiving a radio signal sent by electric guitar, the garage rock and power-pop styling of Super 8 finds Baglio in familiar territory. And it's not unlike what we heard in Pop Rocks in my Chewing Gum, the beloved 2025 album from his collaborative project with Dan Kopko, The Peppermint Kicks. Over eight songs, as well as a digital bonus track in the groove-laden “Deuce Machine,” Baglio and his head full of rock and roll nostalgia takes us on a trip that’s both moving backwards and forward at the same time. It connects rock and roll history like an aural loop, where the events of 75 years ago not only feel like yesterday, suddenly feel like the future. Through its 30-minute runtime, a collective tissue emerges from the lens of one of Boston’s greatest songwriters, and while the song titles give away the themes – the cool street-view bluesy swagger of “Hot Wax” to the gritty British Invasion and glam of “Superstar” to a ‘70s throwback groove of “Hot Stars” – there’s always something a little extra bubbling up from down under the surface. Baglio remembers the time he found himself in the middle of a riot, but his greatest memories of rock and roll didn’t come from him, they came to him. From the Moondog Ball back in ‘52, to that killer local show this past weekend at the neighborhood dive, rock and roll is the connective tissue through the times when we all felt truly alive. Baglio has been hooked from the start. And he’s got one lasting piece of advice as we welcome Super 8 into our lives. “Find a jukebox,” he concludes, “stack a record player, turn it up loud, sing sha la la, dance again, jump up, spin around, get dizzy. Stomp n’ shout, laugh, go crazy, kick up some dirt, turn that amp up to 11. Blow yer speakers and start a rock n roll riot!” He should know. He was there. And so were you.