In 1993, the Goo Goo Dolls released their fourth studio album, Superstar Car Cash, they were still relatively unknown. Through their first three albums, the group had evolved from a second-rate punk act to a decent garage band, as was evident with their third effort, Hold Me Up. The album had made such an impact that two songs were included on the soundtrack to the 1991 hit Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare, as well as a brand new track called I’m Awake Now. And while it would not be until Name and Iris a few years late that the Goo Goo Dolls were finally brought into the mainstream, Superstar Car Wash was the threesome’s first album to truly demonstrate their talents for melody and songwriting. It may lack the class of A Boy Named Goo or the commercial appeal of Dizzy Up the Girl, but it would mark their first significant step towards the big league.
Produced by Gavin MacKillop, whose subsequent work would include I’ll Be There for You by The Rambdrants, best known as the theme tune to the hit show Friends, Superstar Car Wash still had an unpolished and garage rock feel to it but was a more professional product than Hold Me Up. By the release of their third album John Rzeznik had emerged as the band’s frontman, with bassist Robby Takac having taken care of most of the vocals for their first two releases, Goo Goo Dolls and Jed. Superstar Car Wash, and indeed all of their earlier albums, were a radically departure for their label, Metal Blade Records, who at that time were more known for metal acts like Cannibal Corpse and Gwar. Much like Slayer, who had released two albums with the company before progressing to Rick Rubin’s American label, the Goo Goo Dolls would eventually sign to Warner Bros. to tremendous success, but with Superstar Car Wash they were still developing their sound.
While Rzeznik gave the group a “radio friendly” quality, Takac’s rough less harmonic vocals often pointed towards their punkier roots, with him fronting many of the album’s more energetic tracks. One thing that is immediately apparent with Superstar Car Wash is how the songs boast stronger melodies, while the production sounds less like a demo and more like a real album. In keeping with the tradition first laid out on Hold Me Up, and one that they would keep to throughout their career, the album evenly mixes Rzeznik and Takac’s songs, and while Rzeznik is often the focal point of the band in the media, those songs fronted by Takac are just as enjoyable, with Lucky Star and Another Second Time Around proving to be particularly memorable. In fact, Superstar Car Cash features some of Takac’s best songs, showing his natural talent for creating memorable and upbeat punk-pop songs. Rzeznik is an underrated singer, however, and his voice really begins to come into its own on this album.
Hold Me Up’s most inspired moment was its closing number, the acoustic track Two Days in February, and it would be appropriate that the record would end with this song as it seems to hint at the kind of material the Goo Goo Dolls would produce later in their career. The genius behind Superstar Car Wash is in its simplicity; the album does not try to create epics or songs with intricate guitar riffs or structures. Its key is in the melody, with the majority of the songs boasting straightforward-yet-catchy hooks, with the Rzeznik-fronted Cuz You’re Gone and Girl Right Next to Me proving to be among the highlights. Girl Right Next to Me, in particular, deserved to be a hit for the band, but sadly it was not released as a single. The album also represented what a strong live act the Goo Goo Dolls were becoming, with many of the songs, such as the heavy Domino, sounding better in front of a live audience instead of in a studio. Likewise, the tracks Girl Right Next to Me and Another Second Time Around were later re-recorded as acoustic, which improved on the original versions.
Superstar Car Wash remains a milestone in the career of the Goo Goo Dolls, as it served as the transition between the earlier three minute punk songs and Prince and Blue Öyster Cult covers towards the multi-Platinum act they would eventually become. Fans of the band’s later work may find it disappointing that the record lacks any tender moments like Iris or Here is Gone, but in retrospect it was their first classic album, and clearly the band and label agreed as half of the fourteen songs were represented on their impressive 2001 career-spanning retrospective Ego, Opinion, Art and Commerce, more than any other album.
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