Supreme Commander

SUPREME COMMANDER
Album review: "Paper Tigers"
By Catherine P. Lewis
Friday, July 13, 2012

Hard-core punk is a genre whose songs are quick and to the point, so it’s a little surprising that local band Supreme Commander waited seven years to record and release its first full-length album, “Paper Tigers.”

True to tradition, the band (made of members of bygone bands Daycare Swindlers, Latchkey and Wake Up Cold) unleashes 10 songs, in just under 21 minutes, bursting with energy and passion-fueled vocals.

The album’s main focus seems to be other people, with vocalist Boo Dixon railing about broken relationships and shattered friendships (“The Woodshed,” “The Damage Done,” “Another Day Without You”) and cursing the superficiality of Jaeger-bomb-guzzling preppies (“Flip Flops”). Being fully immersed in the Washington scene, Supreme Commander does touch on politics and local events as well. “Ruin” finds Dixon denouncing the self-centeredness of modern culture, howling, “Gotta strive for better days before our time runs out / This is the age of ruin!”

The music is just as vigorous as the lyrics, with pronounced bass lines, fiery riffs, and songs that beg for a singalong and a mosh pit (“More Than You Can Chew,” “The Woodshed”).

All of that makes “Paper Tigers” a solid addition to Washington’s long-standing hard-core scene.