Los Angeles-based alt-rock/pop-punk outfit Rocket releases the music video, “SuperHero,” a song inspired by one of rock music’s premier vocalists, Chris Cornell, who, like other gifted artists – Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix – touched millions of people while battling their own demons.
Made up of frontwoman Janelle Barreto (vocals), Eric Wibbelsmann (guitar), Paul DePatie (drums), Steve Kilcullen (guitar), and Ozzie Hammer, Rocket’s sound surpasses the sum of its members.
According to guitarist Eric Wibbelsmann, “We have to agree on the music and give each other room to try anything for the good of the band, and the song. We’re doing this collectively – five people, one unit.”
“SuperHero” follows on the heels of Rocket’s last hit, “Fading Out,” which collected more than 100,000 views on YouTube. Produced by Grammy-nominated Mark Needham and recorded at Studio 2, “SuperHero” has amassed over 180,000 YouTube views in just over a week.
“SuperHero” opens on gleaming guitars riding potent percussion and a fat, thrumming bassline. Janelle’s deluxe voice glides overhead. On the chorus, her tones take on galvanizing resonance and muscular timbres, melodic yet surging with sonic dynamism.
A dazzling guitar solo plunges the harmonics into a seething cauldron of sound, followed by Janelle’s crème de la crème voice imbuing the lyrics with luscious textures.
“SuperHero” is a grand song, full of swanky layers of guitars, an infectious rhythm, and the bewitching voice of Janelle Barreto.
It’s also a very human song. As Rocket explains, “The song reflects on how the entire world can truly love these people, and how they become ‘heroes’ for so many, but all the while they’ve possibly lost love for themselves. It asks how come everyone else around them can see this person is a ‘SuperHero,’ but he himself can’t see at all how valuable and truly amazing he really is. But with the culmination of how tremendous their impact is, mixed with their enormous amount of natural talent, it’s almost as if their stories are their destiny; as the lyric says, ‘Destined to his fate.’ The song taps into the deep adoration a fan can feel towards their musical heroes, even when their hero may be damaged, struggling, or imperfect; but we still love them anyway.”