Supercluster - The Big Dipper Anthology

Big Dipper, a mid-1980s Boston band with an impressive pedigree of the time made three exemplary records with indie label Homestead Records, then broke up. The band scattered, and the good times were forgotten until Merge Records came to the rescue, gathering those three Homestead releases into one collection for Supercluster.  Disc 1 (tracks 1-16) contain their first recording, the inspired Boo Boo 6-song EP, along with the follow up album, Heavens; Disc 2 (tracks 1 – 18) is comprised of the band’s third release, Craps, plus nine bonus tracks (alternate takes, demos, compilation tracks); Disc 3 (1-15) is an unreleased album entitled A Very Loud Array, recorded in the early ‘90s when a modified version of the band attempted to rebound. The first song here, “Faith Healer,” embodies the music of the era, and all that was remarkable about Big Dipper: the tune meshed jagged, brittle guitars with a surprisingly bright, vibrant sound and charmingly off-kilter vocals, tied together with an impossibly fat, bouncy bass line that moved even the coolest hipsters to their feet. Big Dipper were not too arty, too punk, or too pop; they sought to marry various genres into one harmonious whole, and succeeded brilliantly.  Listen to the charging drums and battery of guitars on “Wrong in the Charts” and “Mr. Woods,” the lilting pop melody of “She’s Fetching” and “All Going Out Together,” the dark paranoia of “You’re Not Patsy,” the soft jangle of “Bonnie,” or the cow-punk undertones of “Man O’War” to grasp the true range of this great band and their serious songwriting skills.