Two decades since Sumo

The Superjesus. Picture: NIX CARTEL

 Twenty years on from Sumo hitting number two on the ARIA Chart, The Superjesus are back with an anniversary edition of their celebrated 1998 debut.

It’s set for release on 17 August and will feature bonus material sourced from triple j’s Live At The Wireless archive.

The Adelaide ‘90s alternative rock band is hitting the road to mark the milestone, and will play Mount Evelyn’s York on Lilydale on Friday 9 November.

The Superjesus received national radio play with their debut 1996 EP Eight Step Rail.

The band was inducted into the South Australian Music Hall of Fame in 2017.

Frontwoman Sarah McLeod said “everything went big time” when Sumo came out.

“It was terrifying and exciting all at once. We worked so hard on that album…” she said.

“To be sitting here talking about it 20 years later, knowing that it was an important part of Australian music history and affected so many people along the way…it feels like an incredible achievement.

“We had no blueprint of how we wanted to sound – of course we had our influences, but it was the combination of those influences that made us become The Superjesus.”

The anniversary edition of Sumo, on CD and vinyl, will feature a studio cover of Kylie Minogue’s Confide In Me.

“I have always been a Kylie fan,” McLeod said.

“Back in ‘96 we recorded a really heavy version of Confide In Me, just for our own amusement.

“No one ever heard it.

“I went to the guys and reminded them of the recording, and went straight home to work up a demo of it.

“Within a week we were playing it live on the festival stage.

“In the ‘90s we used to tour non-stop, we would play five to six nights a week for months to years at a time.

“This kind of momentum makes the band so incredibly tight – nothing else on earth can make a band better than by playing every night in front of a crowd.

“We want to embark on this tour with no fear like we did then!”

Bassist Stu Rudd said the band hand’t played some of the tunes that will feature on this tour in years.

“It’s going to be one hell of a show, playing Sumo in full, then following up with some faves as well,” he said.

Tickets are available from www.oztix.com.au or 1300 762 545.