For The Superficials, the New York minute may as well be the Nashville minute.  Barely a year ago, this group of four young expatriates from the East faced the doldrums of Broadway buskers, singing in the streets, working construction jobs, pulling doubles waiting tables, all the while leveraging their futures in the lean and flush, boom and bust world of the 21st Century troubadour.   But since then, the inventors of what the Nashville Sports Council calls “Folk and Roll” have hardly been able to keep up with all of the newfound attention. 

Their first break came in the form of serenading thousands in Seattle at Hempfest, attended by a record 310,000 cannabis connoisseurs, finishing their set immediately before the stoner Sabbath of 4:20 P.M.  Then, their performance at the Country Music Marathon led to the inclusion of their song “Somehow” on New Balance Shoes’ Rock Your Run compilation, distributed to over 30,000 runners.  After that, they garnered a coveted spot at the Music City Hot Chicken Festival, where the mayor and Country starlet Lorrie Morgan introduced them to 5,000 adventurous epicureans celebrating Nashville’s super-spicy signature dish.    Throw in a headlining spot at the Smith County (TN) Fair, full-houses at the Pumpkintown Opry and Evening Muse in the Carolinas, plus a new record produced by the guy who moved the faders on the triple-platinum hit “I Hope You Dance”, and you’ve got one heck of a year racked up for The Superficials.

The upcoming album, entitled "Decent Hits", will be The Superficials’ first bona fide studio record and their second project with Grammy-nominated producer Jim Lightman (india.arie, Hank III, Lee Ann Womack).  As its tongue-in-cheek name implies, "Decent Hits" is essentially a mirror of The Superficials’ live show, made up of fan favorites (and a handful of new songs) either unreleased or only in demo form.  While the album itself isn’t slated for release until this winter, avid audiophiles can hear three songs ahead of schedule, “Five Days”, Girl Don’t You Slow It”, and “Somehow”, which Amplifier magazine touts is “as strong as any pop/rock song you’ll hear on the radio this year”.   

  Within the realm of Pop/Rock, The Superficials’ music is “more easily defined by what it’s not” according to Raj Sharma of WEA Los Angeles.  While that might sound like a copout at first, when you consider our modern age of 120-gig iPods and viral video, it’s easy to see (and hear) how the band has been influenced by so many different artists.  They sound like who they are:  steeped in the rich musical tradition of their Southern home, quantified by obscure vinyl finds in their personal libraries (like The Beach Boys 20/20 or an Elephant 6 Collective LP), but still members of the MTV generation.  They are as comfortable in drawing inspiration from The Flying Burrito Brothers as they are from The Strokes, and this alchemy has resulted in an album of 3-minute gems that can only compliment The Great American Songbook.

"Decent Hits" will be made available through all major internet retailers, as well select independent music stores early next year, and the band plans to promote their new effort at the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas this March.