John Davis – “Take My Brains Out” (video) – The Fire Note

John Davis of Superdrag recently announced his new solo LP, HEXwill be released on September 27th on the Lost In Ohio label. You can pre-order the album HERE. “Take My Brains Out” is the second single from the album and the first official music video.

Davis gives a little background/perspective on the single:

“Tom (Pappas, of Superdrag) laughed out loud when he first heard that chorus. It sounds funny, but it touches on something deeper. Sometimes your mind can be your worst enemy; it can even try to destroy you! I guess I longed for a removable one. Plus, the lead guitar always makes me laugh. I’ve read in several places that if something about a song makes you laugh, you should definitely leave it in.” -John Davis

HEX was intended to be a Superdrag album. It even started out as one. But the choppy recording process ultimately caused the venture to stall. Superdrag ran out of patience, time and energy. But John Davis, the open-hearted songwriter, knew these songs had to be saved.

“Stewart Pack has been my hero for about 30 years,” says John. “He was the guitarist and singer for my absolute favorite Knoxville band, Pegclimber.” John had worked with Stewart on previous projects like the skate punk revival band Epic Ditch, but what John really wanted was to connect with Stewart’s son, Henry, who was quickly becoming one of the most sought-after sound engineers in town. Not to mention a “monster drummer.”

What John got from that call was a double whammy: Henry agreed to work as sound engineer, and Stewart signed on to serve as producer. The father-son duo also quickly became John’s rhythm section. Suddenly – and yes, heroically – there was a brand new John Davis band.

They were inspired by trio legends like the Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Hüsker Dü and Dinosaur Jr (all permanent members of SST Records) and used the spartan, no-frills rock style of the Ramones as inspiration. But they didn’t want to go in the direction of punk with John’s songs, but rather strip them down to the essentials. “We didn’t want to be tied to previous arrangements or previous decisions about the songs and wanted to cut out all the fat.”

The first thing you notice on the record, yes, the very first thing you hear, is John’s rich, raw guitar sound. (And his brief, warm sustain at the end of “I’m Sorry” is the very last note.) John and Stewart were familiar with the production energy of Nashville, where a band can work with over 20 guitars on a record, and pinned almost all of their sonic hopes on a Fender Stratocaster. “As ubiquitous as the Strat is, I think it’s really underrated on records.” The decision was less about promoting the Strat than about creating a sonic universe that the listener can immediately immerse themselves in. Once you get into the sound, you feel at home.

It also felt as honest as the lyrics. “I’ve been writing songs for a long time and my process has never really changed. I just try to open my heart and whatever is in there, that’s what you get.” And what you get HEX is indeed just that – a man carrying various boxes from the dark and light sides of his heart. John takes listeners through the inner monologues of someone battling depression, then cheers us up with sweet and direct declarations of love.

The album opens with the lines “sometimes I’m a bag of broken glass / what am I supposed to do with it?” from “The Future,” and then the newly engaged Davis spontaneously invites us into his impending engagement with “Please Be My Love” (“she’s so kind and sweet to me / that’s all she needs to be”). The album intentionally mixes negative and positive connotations, which is manifested in its titular identity. As a word, “jinx” usually immediately conjures up thoughts of bad luck, and that’s certainly the idea. But the title is actually just an inside joke between John and his fiancée about their almost daily tendency to utter the same phrase at the same time.

Yes, misfortune and soul mates, depression and new love. That is HEX.