new album streaming on npr right now!
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129480411
it sounds like SUPERCHUNK!
about halfway thru seems only "ok" but superchunk is a band that for some reason i can never really hate on for just sounding like themselves and being ok...maybe them and cheap trick...
anyway i love superchunk
― You know, Caps... Jimmy Hats, Gloves, McRibs, Slee (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 8 September 2010 15:40 (fifteen years ago)
"learned to surf" is a jam as is "crossed wires"
― You know, Caps... Jimmy Hats, Gloves, McRibs, Slee (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 8 September 2010 15:47 (fifteen years ago)
My Gap Feels Weird
― Mr. Que, Wednesday, 8 September 2010 15:48 (fifteen years ago)
both those songs were released on singles/EPs last year, but yeah, good songs. looking forward to hearing the new new stuff. didn't love "Digging For Something" when the single dropped a couple months ago but maybe it'll grow on me.
― some dude, Wednesday, 8 September 2010 15:49 (fifteen years ago)
xpost
― ciderpress, Wednesday, 8 September 2010 15:51 (fifteen years ago)
really love this album, first one i've love-loved since well before the hiatus. old-school 'chunk songs with really rich production.
― strongohulkingtonsghost, Wednesday, 8 September 2010 15:52 (fifteen years ago)
yeah i have sorta lost track of the chunk tbh so this is all new to me
― You know, Caps... Jimmy Hats, Gloves, McRibs, Slee (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 8 September 2010 15:54 (fifteen years ago)
after listening to "my gap feels weird" about 900 times, i have come to the assumption that it's about some kinda generation gap feeling -- interviewing them a couple weeks back, they both talked about how it's weird to be releasing your first album in almost 10 years when a big chunk of indie's current audience grew up without superchunk as a going concern -- but every time i hear it i can't help think about mac's orthodontic concerns.
― strongohulkingtonsghost, Wednesday, 8 September 2010 15:55 (fifteen years ago)
they = mac and laura
― strongohulkingtonsghost, Wednesday, 8 September 2010 15:56 (fifteen years ago)
Hi,
Could you post a link to the interview please?
Steve Shasta
― Fartbritz Sootzveti (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 8 September 2010 15:57 (fifteen years ago)
hi steve,
i don't think it's been posted yet, but i will be happy to once it is.
strongo.
― strongohulkingtonsghost, Wednesday, 8 September 2010 15:58 (fifteen years ago)
listening to the album now via the NPR link (thanks, btw). i've never heard superchunk before. i assume this new disc isn't the best place to start?
― Daniel, Esq., Wednesday, 8 September 2010 16:03 (fifteen years ago)
They would make a great candidate for a greatest hits project. But the problem is their discog is really fragmented by: lo-fi, then indie-rock, then maturity maybe 3 greatest hit EPs for each era.
― Fartbritz Sootzveti (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 8 September 2010 16:05 (fifteen years ago)
there's a semi-colon missing in that second sentence.
daniel, i would start with tossing seeds probably, or on the mouth
― You know, Caps... Jimmy Hats, Gloves, McRibs, Slee (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 8 September 2010 16:09 (fifteen years ago)
they're on emusic, it turns out. i'll investigate; thanks.
― Daniel, Esq., Wednesday, 8 September 2010 16:14 (fifteen years ago)
also here's where the strings come in has "detroit has a skyline too" and "hyper enough" which to me are maybe the most superchunk of all superchunk songs
― You know, Caps... Jimmy Hats, Gloves, McRibs, Slee (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 8 September 2010 16:14 (fifteen years ago)
^^^this^^^
exactly an inbetween point between point between indie-era and maturity-era. But these albums are also their spottiest with half great songs, half weak songs.
― Fartbritz Sootzveti (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 8 September 2010 16:16 (fifteen years ago)
i'mma go get the papers get the papers
there are no spotty songs on here's where the strings come in. wack ballads carried by high pitched mac straining.
― adam, Wednesday, 8 September 2010 16:19 (fifteen years ago)
"Driveway to Driveway" = Superchunk apotheosis, for reals
― Shock and Awe High School (Phil D.), Wednesday, 8 September 2010 16:22 (fifteen years ago)
^^this
a 2CD superchunk set, properly curated, would definitely hit all the things they did well.
― strongohulkingtonsghost, Wednesday, 8 September 2010 16:23 (fifteen years ago)
"driveway to driveway" and "detroit has a skyline" are probably the two to put in the time capsule for me.
superchunk inertia i think is best illustrated by their attempt to get with the late 90s zeitgeist and hiring jim o'rourke to produce come pick me up. somehow instead of sucking all the life out of them and spitting out one of his flaccid colorless production jobs he just recorded a superchunk record, except in one song i think way in the background there is the faint suggestion of a horn part.
― adam, Wednesday, 8 September 2010 16:35 (fifteen years ago)
strongo can you plz plz plz suggest that properly curated playlist... i want to get to know these guys but don't even know where to start...
― all yoga attacks are fire based (rogermexico.), Wednesday, 8 September 2010 16:45 (fifteen years ago)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
― Daniel, Esq., Wednesday, 8 September 2010 16:47 (fifteen years ago)
start with their videos!
― da croupier, Wednesday, 8 September 2010 16:48 (fifteen years ago)
"basement life" is awesome, i think that was on a dope,guns, and fucking 7 inch?
― You know, Caps... Jimmy Hats, Gloves, McRibs, Slee (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 8 September 2010 16:51 (fifteen years ago)
type superchunk into youtube, click on anything that looks like a produced video. they weren't merely a singles band but they did a better job than most of their peers of using the form to their benefit.
or yeah, you could seek out the obscure 7-inches. whatever's easier!
― da croupier, Wednesday, 8 September 2010 16:52 (fifteen years ago)
I've been working on a 2CD best-of for a while, should finish that after the new album comes out. But my selection would probably be a little offbeat since I'm probably a little younger than the average Superchunk fan and look at their catalog differently; for me the best albums are Here's Where The Strings Come In and Come Pick Me Up and they had great songs right up through the end of the original run, and I have a limited enthusiasm for anything earlier than Foolish.
― some dude, Wednesday, 8 September 2010 16:53 (fifteen years ago)
right now youtube gives me "Hyper Enough," "Watery Hands," "Throwing Things," "Precision Auto," "The First Part," "Slack Motherfucker," "Package Thief," "Driveway To Driveway," "Art Class," "Fishing," "Mower" and "Untied" right down in a line, only interrupted by one SXSW 2010 clip. Totally decent intro.
― da croupier, Wednesday, 8 September 2010 16:55 (fifteen years ago)
The second singles/odds-and-sods comp Incidental Music is a great place to start: "Shallow End" is such a hot song to start things off. I think it's their best album.
― Euler, Wednesday, 8 September 2010 16:55 (fifteen years ago)
The "watery hands" video is kinda lolz. that song is straight up Dunedin/Flying Nun mode.
― Fartbritz Sootzveti (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 8 September 2010 16:56 (fifteen years ago)
i'll check out the videos, too! thanks.
― Daniel, Esq., Wednesday, 8 September 2010 16:57 (fifteen years ago)
found "basement life" on youtube....starts kinda uncharacteristically grindy, but the chorus is uberchunk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi0yhAxtlpw
incidental music is great
― You know, Caps... Jimmy Hats, Gloves, McRibs, Slee (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 8 September 2010 17:06 (fifteen years ago)
Love the "Package Thief" video. Doing the "Look, marionettes but we're not even actually trying!" thing years before Team America. Also, that song is the bomb.
― Shock and Awe High School (Phil D.), Wednesday, 8 September 2010 17:20 (fifteen years ago)
gotta have "brand new love"
― the tune is space, Wednesday, 8 September 2010 17:40 (fifteen years ago)
i keep thinking these guys are supergrass
― friends don't understand us, adults don't understand us (zorn_bond.mp3), Wednesday, 8 September 2010 18:14 (fifteen years ago)
that makes me sad
― You know, Caps... Jimmy Hats, Gloves, McRibs, Slee (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 8 September 2010 18:15 (fifteen years ago)
say mac was a monster, a charlatan, a fake, but he was never english
― You know, Caps... Jimmy Hats, Gloves, McRibs, Slee (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 8 September 2010 18:16 (fifteen years ago)
ok wow this album is way way better than you'd think a superchunk album in 2010 would be
― ciderpress, Sunday, 12 September 2010 16:26 (fifteen years ago)
okay, so . . .
― Daniel, Esq., Monday, 13 September 2010 18:36 (fifteen years ago)
I mean like this band slays
http://www.prefixmag.com/media/superchunk/digging-for-something-and-precision-auto-live-on-f/44311/
― Mr. Que, Wednesday, 22 September 2010 15:04 (fifteen years ago)
This album is fantastic, I think I've already listened to it about twelve times since I picked it up on Friday. At first I thought it was just lowered expectations, but now I'm not so sure, this is just a great little record.
― he's always been a bit of an anti-climb Max (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 22 September 2010 15:12 (fifteen years ago)
this is good! I prefer the slightly less direct, moodier Superchunk of "Foolish" but this is still a great pop-punk album
― congratulations (n/a), Wednesday, 22 September 2010 15:17 (fifteen years ago)
yeah it's fucking great start to finish, easily one of my favorite from them
― Mr. Que, Wednesday, 22 September 2010 15:17 (fifteen years ago)
dang this is a really addictive album. I listened to it like two-three times yesterday and then had the songs in my head when I was trying to sleep last night so I had to listen to it again this morning.
I wonder if they had put out this album in like 1995 if it would have been seen as a "sell-out album." It's so direct and catchy and produced. I kind of like that we don't have to have that discussion now.
― congratulations (n/a), Thursday, 23 September 2010 13:36 (fifteen years ago)
in some ways this feels more like an extension of the past couple portastatic albums due to how jammed with pop hooks it is. 'white wave' or 'center of the world' from Bright Ideas wouldn't be out of place on this one
― ciderpress, Thursday, 23 September 2010 13:47 (fifteen years ago)
yeah the midtempo stuff with Mac's 'gruff' voice like "Fractures In Plaster" definitely reminds me a lot of Be Still Please too. their show in D.C. on Friday was great fun and I like this album but i dunno if I'm into it as much as a lot of the other people on the thread. new version of "Learned To Surf" is awesome but it was already one of my favorite songs of 2009, y'know? i'd kinda rank Majesty Shredding among middling later albums like Indoor Living.
― some dude, Thursday, 23 September 2010 13:51 (fifteen years ago)
tbh I don't think I've heard any Superchunk or Portastatic albums since "Here's Where the Strings Come In"
― congratulations (n/a), Thursday, 23 September 2010 13:55 (fifteen years ago)
Bright Ideas and Be Still Please are fantastic little guitar pop albums imo
― ciderpress, Thursday, 23 September 2010 13:58 (fifteen years ago)
Listening to this on a sunny beach probably swayed my judgement, but god this album is great. Seriously...wow. If this isn't a power-pop aficionado's wet dream, then I don't know what is. This is the only thing I've heard by Superchunk and it's hard to believe they've made anything better. It's like some of my favourite bands (Apples in stereo, teenage fanclub, Lemonheads etc) in one perfect spring/summer incarnation. Not a single dud track either. One of the albums of the year.....and no, I'm not part of their street team or anything. Majesty Shredding just rules.
― Tim. E "LazRus" Lucas (Prose b4 Hoes...and Big Hoos), Tuesday, 28 September 2010 06:15 (fifteen years ago)
^ in the band imo
― markers, Tuesday, 28 September 2010 06:52 (fifteen years ago)
Afraid I'm stuck in Sydney, but if I had it my way, I'd be in the states pretending to be in Superchunk. Sorry to disappoint markers.
― Tim. E "LazRus" Lucas (Prose b4 Hoes...and Big Hoos), Tuesday, 28 September 2010 07:21 (fifteen years ago)
;_;
― markers, Tuesday, 28 September 2010 14:04 (fifteen years ago)
damn I guess I need to hear this. they were one of my favorite bands in college (No Pocky / Tossing Seeds / On the Mouth era) but I fell off after that. my roommate had Foolish but I never bought it ... not sure I've even heard Here's Where the Strings Come in ...
here's my stab at Superchunk's Greatest Hits in rough chronological (given the caveats above re: what albums I've heard)
My NoiseTrain From Kansas CitySlack MotherfuckerCoolSkip Steps 1 & 3Seed TossTie a Rope to the Back of the BusBrand New LovePrecision AutoNew LowThe Question Is How Fast <-- candidate for uber-superchunk mission statementDriveway to Driveway
― dmr, Tuesday, 28 September 2010 15:37 (fifteen years ago)
to me Tossing Seeds is the best place to start but I guess it's a question of whether you want the lower-fi 7-inch jams or the better produced stuff
― dmr, Tuesday, 28 September 2010 15:40 (fifteen years ago)
This album isn't bad, but Come Pick Me Up will probably always be my favorite Superchunk record. (NB: I've only heard like three of them.)
― jaymc, Tuesday, 28 September 2010 15:49 (fifteen years ago)
what other ones have you heard? cuz i think come pick me up as the best is a rare opinion
― The Black NAGL's Death Thong (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 28 September 2010 15:56 (fifteen years ago)
jaymc is not big on the noisy rock music in general, I'm guessing Come Pick Me Up is one of the quieter prettier Superchunk albums?
― congratulations (n/a), Tuesday, 28 September 2010 16:05 (fifteen years ago)
Besides this new one, I don't remember. It's possible I haven't heard a full album, but I feel like I've dipped into No Pocky for Kitty, Foolish and/or Here's Where the Strings Come In. Feel like I might like Here's to Shutting Up.
― jaymc, Tuesday, 28 September 2010 16:06 (fifteen years ago)
They would make a great candidate for a greatest hits project. But the problem is their discog is really fragmented by: lo-fi, then indie-rock, then maturity; maybe 3 greatest hit EPs for each era.― Fartbritz Sootzveti (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, September 8, 2010 9:05 AM (2 weeks ago)
― Fartbritz Sootzveti (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, September 8, 2010 9:05 AM (2 weeks ago)
― Fartbritz Sootzveti (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, 28 September 2010 16:10 (fifteen years ago)
I don't think of Come Pick Me Up as being that quiet, but it does have some interesting textures on it. My favorite song on it is probably "June Showers," with that great bass line.
― jaymc, Tuesday, 28 September 2010 16:11 (fifteen years ago)
But the problem is their discog is really fragmented by: lo-fi, then indie-rock, then maturity; maybe 3 greatest hit EPs for each era.
that tracklist would be like my EP-and-a-half of lo-fi into the first part of indie era
― dmr, Tuesday, 28 September 2010 16:16 (fifteen years ago)
it's quiet compared to the other Superchunk records
― Mr. Que, Tuesday, 28 September 2010 16:47 (fifteen years ago)
Come Pick Me Up is my 2nd favorite and is a pretty uptempo record (not nearly as quiet as Here's To Shutting Up, anyway), but it's definitely 'lighter' than their early stuff and has a lot of strings and horns and weird drum sounds, still pretty fast and aggressive when you really listen to it, though.
this is my POX of later Superchunk (i.e. post-Here's Where The Strings Come In and not counting the new album):
European MedicineThe MajesticOut On The WingPink CloudsDoes Your Hometown Care?Watery HandsCursed Mirror1000 PoundsBecoming A SpeckMarquee
― some dude, Tuesday, 28 September 2010 19:35 (fifteen years ago)
Here's my POX, though I could easily double or triple it:
Slack MotherfuckerThrowing ThingsWhy Do You Have To Put A Date On EverythingBaxterHome At DawnPackage ThiefDetroit Has A SkylineThe Popular MusicRainy StreetsMy Gap Feels Weird
― righteousmaelstrom, Tuesday, 28 September 2010 20:12 (fifteen years ago)
i'll have to check this, but second the comment above about how nice portastatic's be still please and bright ideas are.
― my stomach is full of anger. and pie. (Hunt3r), Tuesday, 28 September 2010 20:42 (fifteen years ago)
By the way, is it just me or does anyone else think of Blue Oyster Cult's "Burning For You" during the little instrumental break at 2:30 on "Digging for Something"?
― Sean Carruthers, Tuesday, 28 September 2010 21:05 (fifteen years ago)
xp if you're with me on portastatic, you'll probably love this album
― ciderpress, Tuesday, 28 September 2010 21:08 (fifteen years ago)
i've put off listening this for far too long but am really enjoying it! love "fractures in plaster"
― avoyoungdro's number (k3vin k.), Thursday, 21 October 2010 20:34 (fourteen years ago)
Saw them last Friday. Great show. Unfortunately they did not play Detroit Has A Skyline.
― righteousmaelstrom, Thursday, 21 October 2010 23:55 (fourteen years ago)
hard to get past the first two songs 'cause i like them so much.
― Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 21 October 2010 23:56 (fourteen years ago)
are you guys for real? i find this kind of praise "effusive". is there any fair and balanced opinions out there?
― i love you but i have chosen snarkness (Steve Shasta), Friday, 22 October 2010 00:12 (fourteen years ago)
FOX news doesn't like the album.
― Daniel, Esq., Friday, 22 October 2010 00:12 (fourteen years ago)
hmm, an unfiltered opinion that i can trust.
― i love you but i have chosen snarkness (Steve Shasta), Friday, 22 October 2010 00:17 (fourteen years ago)
i think this is a real solid album. if you like the chunk you will probably enjoy it but it will not make you forget your favorite superchunk albums from the daze of yore, mr. shasta
― S Beez Wit the Remedy (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 22 October 2010 02:31 (fourteen years ago)
just got this the other day and it really is fantastic. maybe i slept on it because i was not that impressed by come pick me up.
i have only some of superchunk's other work, and some of portastatic's, but i think i like album best. i'll have to revisit superchunk, but really the songwriting and arrangements on songs like fractures in plaster sound more like portastatic to me.
― these jorts are rapha, so suck it (Hunt3r), Wednesday, 27 October 2010 20:28 (fourteen years ago)
"this album best"
― these jorts are rapha, so suck it (Hunt3r), Wednesday, 27 October 2010 20:29 (fourteen years ago)
pretty funny video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHcxZz5P130&feature=related
― mekka lekka hi mega-hiney hoes (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 14 January 2011 16:11 (fourteen years ago)
half of fractures in plaster sounds like a sped-up version of big star's nighttime.
― Daniel, Esq., Tuesday, 25 January 2011 15:50 (fourteen years ago)