For the purposes of Supergroup Showcase the term supergroup means a band or group of musicians made up of two or more artists from previously successful bands, but not a super huge bands like Led Zeppelin.

STREET SWEEPER SOCIAL CLUB
THE PLAYERS: Tom Morello on guitar and bass (Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave), Boots Riley on vocals (The Coup) and Stanton Moore on drums (Galactic, tons of other projects)
HISTORY: While Morello was touring as The Nightwatchman he’d play some Coup songs and Riley would come up and sing along with him. They decided to start a band, got Moore in on drums, recorded an album and toured with Jane’s Addiction and Nine Inch Nails. (via Wiki)
OFFICIAL SITE: StreetSweeperSocialClub.com

As anyone who read my list of albums from 2009 that I dug knows, I really liked the Street Sweeper Social Club’s record. I honestly can’t say that I’ve heard of Riley or The Coup, which doesn’t mean much as I’ve just recently been slowly working my way through the deep history of hip hop, but I really dig his rhymes on this record and of course, Morello’s no slouch when it comes to fitting his awesomely experimental and head-bobbing riffs in with a hip hop vibe.

That video doesn’t have the best vocal quality, but I think it captures the vocal and music intensity of the band pretty well. Most of the songs have a political bent to them, with a particular focus on the common person (like a street sweeper per se) rising up and taking more control of his life and the world around him. But, I don’t want to give the impression that this is only a political group. Yes, that’s a huge part of their message, but this record is also packed with songs that you can easily dance to. Put this on at your next party and you’re set for the whole length of play. Unless it’s a tea party filled with old people. They might not dig it then. Here’s a video of SSSC and Trent Reznor performing MC5’s “Kick Out The Jams,” it’s awesome and I’m not even much of a NIN fan (but I totally dig the MC5).

Pretty rad, no? I’m a fan. In fact, unlike a lot of records I’ve picked up over the last few years, I’ve listened to the SSSC’s record all the way through several times without skipping ANY sings. That’s really uncommon with me. I’ll often get through the first 5 or 6 songs, get bored and switch to something else, but I always listen to this record from front to back. That’s a better track record than even the one Rage Against The Machine record I have (Evil Empire). So, as I’ve implied, this is a fantastic synthesis of Riley’s hip hop lyricism, Morello’s always amazing guitar work and Moore’s drum beats that takes so many great tastes and creates an equally good taste with the outcome of that mixture. I hope they continue to put out records.