From Left to right: Buck, Sour Cream, Sadie and Jenny.note
Sadie Killer and the Suspects was an independent, horror-themed ska band from a beach town on the Delmarva Peninsulanote . Formed in late 2017, the band has released an EP, two original albums, and another EP of cover songs. They are most known for their live performance of "G-G-G-Ghost" at the Empire Concert Hall in Empire City.
The albums are:
- Introducing the Suspects - EP (2018) contains "Sadie Killer and the Suspects", "The Working Dead", and "G-G-G-Ghost"
- Foul Play - (2019) their first album. Includes re-releases of the songs from Introducing the Suspects.
- Cover For Me - (2019) an EP comprised of covers with their own twist.
- Spotlight - (2020) their second album. Unlike their previous work, Sadie takes an active backseat, and the songs are instead based on the rest of the Suspects and the events/people in their lives.
The members are:
- Sadie Miller: Lead singer and songwriter
- Jenny Pizza: Lead bassist
- Buck Dewey: Lead Guitarist (both acoustic and electric)
- Steven Universe: Electric Guitarist
- Sour Cream: Provides the backing beats
- Amethyst: Occasional drummer
A documentary about the road to their first concert titled "The Big Show" was released to Steven's personal TubeTube channel on April 16th, 2018.
As of 2020, Sadie Killer and the Suspects have broken up to find their own independent passions in life, with only Sadie and Sour Cream remaining in the music industry.
- Sadie is now part of a musical duo with her romantic partner, Shep.
- Jenny is developing her own brand of phone jackets.note
- Buck is aiming for a career in medicine, having enrolled in medical school shortly before the breakup.
- Sour Cream is resuming his pre-Suspects work as an independently-contracted DJ.
- As for Steven, he's still looking for his purpose in life; however, it's been rumored that he's taken to independently traveling the country and seeing the world beyond his hometown.
Their songs provide examples of:
- Aborted Arc: In an AMA done with Shep shortly after their first tour, Sadie revealed that "Still Not Giving Up (T.K.U. Reprise)" was supposed to be the start of a sort of "arc" within the band; the aforementioned "T.K.U." would continue to make songs associated with and attributed to the Suspects, even outright hijacking Steven's YouTube just to post one, eventually leading to them crashing a concert, kidnapping Steven and Sadie, and taking over. The plan was scrapped as Steven left the band due to personal responsibilities, and none of them felt it was right to do it without him as T.K.U. was thought up by him and Sadie. The idea was reconsidered when Steven returned to contribute to Spotlight, but quickly put aside when they decided on the focus of the album.
- Broken Ace: Their single "Bleached" is about a person who strives to be flawless in everything, and tries to make all the people in their life live up to that same standard, which only makes them miserable, relating it to feeling like all the color had been drained out of their life. According to Steven, the song was a collaborative effort between the band and one of his relatives.
- Cover Album: Cover For Me is an EP of eight songs, all originally by different composers that have been given the "Sadie Killer" flair.
- Dark Reprise:
- "Haven't You Noticed (I'm a Star)" takes the original pop "I Am Great!" Song by Olivia Olson and turns it into a melancholy rock ballad with lyrics twisted into being about wanting actual friends instead of fans.
- Downplayed with "Still Not Giving Up (T.K.U. Reprise)". While a lot more sarcastic and bitter than the original, it's still a hopeful song about not giving up no matter what life throws at you.
- Excessive Mourning: Their single "Forever Blue" is a song about a person's struggle to move on after losing a loved one, and the fear that they may never recover from the pain of loss. According to Steven, the song was a collaborative effort between the band and one of his relatives.
- Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: "Ahdore Vou" is a song about a trio of off-beat-but-well-meaning vampires who want their newest member to move into their castle to be with them.
- Ghost Song: The singer of "G-G-G-Ghost" is a girl who died of an illness, her celebration of her seeming recovery interrupted by her realization that no one can see her.
- Harsh Noise: "Lovable Weirdo" is an "instrumental" song consisting of a variety of noises, note clangs and sound samples that jumble together into a semi-cohesive but completely bonkers song.
- In Memoriam: "Sweet Victory" is dedicated to Stephen Hillenburg, who died a few months before Cover For Me was released.
- Never Say "Die": "G-G-G-Ghost" is about a dead girl, though "die/dead" is never uttered, either being interrupted or replaced with "G-G-G-Ghost".
- Nepotism: Inverted. It is a common misconception that Steven is a member of the band because his dad is the manager, when in reality Steven was already a member when he hired his dad to be their manager.
- She Also Did: Sadie guest-sings on Mike Krol's single "Disobedient", and performs it live at certain concerts, with one of the other band members filling in for Mike's lyrics at the end.
- Sour Outside, Sad Inside: The single "Hardhearted" is about someone who puts on a strong and uncaring facade to hide the misery and self-loathing they suffer through everyday. According to Steven, the song was a collaborative effort between the band and one of his relatives.
- We Used to Be Friends: The single "When Playtime Ends" is about someone whose close bond with a friend slowly dissolves away, until their friend abandons them to find other friends. According to Steven, the song was a collaborative effort between the band and an old friend of his mother.
- Write What You Know:
- "The Working Dead", a song about the singer feeling like a zombie because of their job, was written after Sadie spent weeks getting run ragged by her own job.
- "Ahdore Vou" is based on an incident in Steven's life where some of his relatives on his mother's side, after learning of his existence, desperately tried to have him move in with them to fill the hole his mother left behind.
- Write Who You Know: "Lovable Weirdo" is based on Sour Cream's little brother; he and his friends even provided some of samples used in the song.
