Supagroup at Tipitina's
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Supagroup's energetic throwback rock is in the vein of AC/DC — a brassy and freewheeling mix of power blues, heavy bass and screeching guitars. The roll-out of its forthcoming album Hail! Hail! is taking on other late 1970s and '80s rock trappings. The cover image by local artist Blake Boyd (known for reproducing pop images of Playboy bunnies, Disney's Snow White and Darth Vader) is a riff on the 1981 animated cult film Heavy Metal, an orgy of juvenile male fantasies combining sex, rock and sci-fi adventure. The title referred not to the emerging musical genre, but the magazine of eroticized fantasy comics typically featuring sword-wielding, bikini-clad heroines. Hail! Hail! (a reference to Taylor Hackford's film about Chuck Berry) includes liner notes with a cartoon by Boyd. Supagroup's Christopher and Benji Lee also created music videos for several of the songs and a short film titled Amped! to promote the album. The video for "Sexy Summertime" is available on YouTube, and it epitomizes the album's primary interests in drinking, partying, playing rock and staying forever young. With highlights like "Hail! Hail! (Rock and Roll)" and "Where'd You Put the Whiskey?" the album is full of the band's signature smug, strutting, kung fu-style rock 'n' roll. This Tipitina's free Fridays show is not the official album release, but CDs will be available. Rock City Morgue opens. Free admission. — Will Coviello
July 1
Supagroup
10 p.m. Friday
Tipitina's, 501 Napoleon Ave., 985-8477; www.tipitinas.com
