Number 323 (or thereabouts) in Matthew Bower's 1432 point plan for mind expansion via comsic ur-drone and shambolic shimmer. Following close on the heels of the recent Skullflower, Cloudz shares much of that release's Krautrockish rhythmic pulse, but keeps it suitably mired in that sweet, sweet Sunroof! haze. Tinkling piano with a thick patina of reverb throbs beneath a luxuriously sonic sparkle, tweaky electronic twitter, guitarish grooviness, some downright sun dappled Stereolabed sonic sweetness and even moments of British psych-folkiness, although appropriately chopped and fuzzed, are all spread into dreamy abstract smears. And throughout it all the cloudz of the title wrap each song, no matter how sleepy or lazy or chaotic or crunchy in swaddling sonic syrup. So good.
Latest in the ongoing exploration of the ur-drone, from�Matthew Bower's (Skullflower, Total, Hototogisu, etc.) softer side. But it's all relative, and while much of Sunroof!'s output is delicate and pretty, or gossamer and transcendental, this might be the hardest, heaviest, most intense release to date. The parts are the same, lengthy streaks of soaring feedback, effulgent bursts of glimmering heart of the sun guitar glow, huge billowing sheets of cymbal sizzle,� all woven into super lush expanse of blossoming sound, the parts all just feel more intense, like they're burning up, constantly on the edge of bursting into flames and crumbling into ash, the opening track even has drums, a pounding caveman plod, that gives the track a sort of doom metal / free jazz / bliss out vibe if you can imagine such a thing. The opener and the third track, are part of a larger nearly 40 minute piece, with the second half swinging wildly from explosive skree, to warm muted drift, everything wreathed in thick swaths of grinding feedback and thick prickly fuzz.�
The�brief second track is the most caustic of the bunch, there are melodies in there, but you have to slither through a dense wall of sonic brambles to get to them, a roiling white hot Merzbowian blow out, draped over a hidden layer of soft shimmering beauty, crumbling beneath the weight of the massive pummel above.�
The final track, the awesomely titled "Stairways And Terraces Descending One Beyond Another In A Stupefying State Of Exhaustion" is another corrosive landscape of amp shredding sound, an orchestra of guitar torture wrangled into subtly beautiful shapes, so subtle in fact that most folks won't stick around long enough to discover them, but as with most 'noise' music, and we're beginning to think this is more of a noise record than a drone record, one is rewarded for diving in head first, none of this dipping a toe in, or listening to a few minutes, you have to be fully submerged to appreciate the dense world of sound that while strangely beautiful, is constantly holding you under, as you struggle and gasp for breath.�
This is Sunroof!'s Metal Machine Music, sure to be misunderstood, and maligned, but for most of us, this is simply a gloriously terrifying blast of beautiful noise...
For a while now, Matthew Bower's Sunroof! has been drifting further into a dreamy blissed out drone world, warm and rich and thick, hypnotic and otherworldly, which makes perfect sense as he has Skullflower to indulge his RAWK side, and the Hototogisu where he teams up with the Double Leopards Marcia Bassett for some good ol' NOIZE. So it was a bit of a pleasant surprise to throw on this new double disc and get knocked the fuck out by sheets of high end skree and walls of keening feedback. Not that we don't love the Sunroof! bliss, we do. And fear not, there's plenty of that here as well, but Silver Bear Mist definitely finds Bower returning to his old noisier outift Total for some sonic inspiration. In fact there's even some Skullflower-worthy riffing here as well. The sound is still definitely Sunroof!, but it sounds like Bower has decided to lump his many moods into one massive double disc of drone / bliss / noise / psych / freakout and we're loving it. Disc one starts with aforementioned knockout blast of processed feedback and squealing spaced out synths, before amping up into some full-on feeding back wall of guitar pummel. The rest of the record is a confusional trip through druggy effect-drenched psych-rock guitar workouts, to clangy clattery free noise, to ear shredding high end drone assembled from layers and layers of processed feedback and chordal whir. The disc finishes off with a 2o minute slow shifting single note drone. A pulsing streak of high end guitar stretched out across the whole twenty minutes, while various drones and overtones and other guitars slink and creep around the original tone, in a weirdly hypnotic tangled drone ballet.
Disc two is all over the map as well, opening with a psych rock jam that's so tinny and overblown it sounds like you're listening to Amon Duul 2 leaking out of the headphones of the guy behind you one the bus. The disc sort of mellows a bit after that into some more Sunroof!-ish territory although with those everpresent streaks of white hot guitar and lightning strike feedback. San Francisco's Skaters join the fray toward the end of disc 2, and it's the final three tracks that really seal the deal. First a noisy, angular guitar workout, with wailing abstract vocals battling sheets of feedback, then it's fourteen minutes of muted warbly four track folk wrapped in haze and a fuzzy ambience that makes it sound like an old dusty crackly 78, and finally, "Trampled Dawns" ends the proceedings with a totally majestic and epic workout, full of grand melodies and chiming bells, all wrapped in an ultrathick layer of grit and fuzz, sounding almost like a noiserock version of that song that always plays at the end of every teen movie when the boy finally gets the girl. As always, so amazing.
Italian metal/doom label Minotauro, home of Paul Chain, brings us the latest from this fairly new American prog-metal band, well worth checking out if you're a fan of, say, Hammers Of Misfortune. This is Sunrunner's third album and by far their most metal, almost power metal at points, but very proggy indeed, with lots of technically complex, spiraling herky-jerkiness to the quite epic proceedings - extra epic when it comes to the 21 minute long final cut! And they can get ploddingly doomy too, even as they blend in acoustic instrumentation (including violin and oud) on the likes of "Corax". There's a mellow side to 'em, part of their pensive prog rock heritage, that seeps in amidst the serious shred. The clean & "heroic" vocals also often have a melodic softness to 'em, so Sunrunner definitely set a mood, sounding very somber, very earnest, more like music schooled minstrels at times, than headbanging metal maniacs, despite the definite heaviness on offer.
Btw, the guitarist's dad was in the '70s band Seth that Minotauro just reissued (see our review also this list).
Here's the new album from Arcade Fire's tag-a-long kid brother... errr, we mean Sunset Rubdown! The follow-up to 2006's Shut Up I Am Dreaming, Random Spirit Lover is bursting with invigoratingly rambunctious pop with *those* male vocals (a withery emotive yelp). If your dig the music of Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade and Destroyer, Sunset Rubdown will probably rub you the right way!
If the immediate recognition that many customers have voiced the first few times we've played this disc is any indication, this is a band that needs no introduction. This is Spencer Krug of Wolf Parade's other band. The music of Sunset Rubdown is a bit different from W.P. but the voice is apparently pretty unmistakable. Imagine if more characters from the circus tent were allowed into the W.P. recording sessions. Or envision a more tweaked and twee incarnation of Arcade Fire. Or what if Xiu Xiu or Frog Eyes decided to cover those bands' tunes... A musing listen. Fans of all of the above bands might want to lend an ear to Krug and co.
Sunshine Club's name may suggest upbeat, good cheer music, but no. This is something quite far from that. Forlorn weeping tunes. Slow yearning songs of wonder. This bay area trio makes quiet music graced with sad guitar and keyboards.
Now that sadly the Olivia Tremor Control are no more, the big question is: Just who could possibly try to fill the void they've left behind? Well, here may be the answer. The Sunshine Fix is the Bill Doss, Pete Erchick, John Fernandes, Eric Harris and a bunch of their musical friends. Sound familiar? Well, the music on this all-too short 5-song cd certainly does. Uh huh, it's the former members of Olivia Tremor Control sans the wonderful Will C. Hart (who these days is focusing his artistic ways on, among other things, painting). So there we have it. Waving the flag and carrying the torch for Elephant 6-style sugar pop with quirky psychedelic twists and weird sound detours. In fact, this record is weirder than most of the Olivias material, full of Captain Beefheart-esque looseness and cacophony. Recommended.
For those of you who dug the vibrant, psych-twisted sounds of The Sunshine Fix's EP last year, here's a full dose. Lead by pop craftsman Bill Doss (co-founder of the beloved, but defunct Olivia Tremor Control... and in case you're trying to keep the family
The Elephant Six Collective and their foremost retro experimental psych-pop team captains Olivia Tremor Control sprouted numerous solo and side projects. 'Prolific' was/is their middle name. Case in point, The Sunshine Fix is E6/OTC co-founder Bill Doss' post-OTC group, and this is their third full length. With Green Imagination, Doss and co. seem to have drawn the closest (of any E6 groups past or present) to that fab old OTC sound. Super bouyant and harmonious, however they've added some heft to the usually perky proceedings with some unexpected shades of gospel and glam. As always, they encorporate a wide array of common and quite uncommon instruments to flesh out and embellish their basic sweet Beatles/Beach Boys-inspired pop core.
In theory, the Suntanama could be a really interesting band as members of the No Neck Blues Band attempt to strike a Neil Young pose to produce some laid back yet grizzled '70s rock. But in practice, this is an album that Drag City could make a lot of money on if they marketed it to the legions of frat boy stoners who listen to Phish and the Dave Matthews Band. S U C K.
It was only a matter of time that the far-flung influences of Khun Narin Electric Phin Band and psychedelic Thai folk would work their way West, but the indelible sound of the electric phin, a Thai style lute, is a key ingredient on the Castle Face debut from LA noise/improv collective Sunwatchers. But to Sunwatchers' credit, Thai folk is but one of many ingredients in their pantheon of sound, and they bring so much more amped-up wattage to the proceedings. With instrumentation consisting of guitar, electric phin, standup bass, drums and saxophone, Sunwatchers unfurl a wailing wall of hypnotic drones and grooves that also channel The Third Ear Band as well as the sound of Tony Conrad and Faust. Intense, focused and ferocious!
FYI, we already sold out of the vinyl version, Castle Face should have pressed more! Back soon, hopefully.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
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Super Furry Animals are a Welsh pop group that gets lumped together with the uber psyche/popsters Olivia Tremor Control a lot, although the Super Furries are less sweet and more contemplative 'n' mellow. This is there first record sung completely in Welsh. Released stateside by Flydaddy.
Super Furry Animals have made a very odd remix album by today's major label standards. Is it just my imagination or does SFA seem to get a longer leash of artistic freedom than most of their other major label alt-rock contemporaries? And they take full advantage of it -- crafting some complex'n'catchy bombastic Brit pop tunes and jaw-dropping videos. Phantom Phorce plays out like a strange play-by-play docu-drama of the album's recording session. In between the remixes of songs from their last studio full length Phantom Power by such notables as Four Tet, Boom Bip, Freiband, and High Llamas, the voice of the reputed 'executive producer' interrupts the album's flow with tales of studio hijinks and self-congratulations. This actually ends up being pretty darn disruptive and irritating when you just want to hear SFA music which is actually quite good! Alas, just because "everything has been done musically" doesn't mean you have to do something stupid like this to be 'different' or 'creative'. Super Furry fans take note, this is a limited pressing of 5000 that comes with a bonus cdep in a crazy ass pop-up cardboard case.
The five Welsh boys that comprise popsters Super Furry Animals have been around for nine years and five releases. And you've probably heard them by now and formed your own opinion. This is their first release for major label Epic, and it's a long, double
Damn we've been digging lots of stuff coming out of Australia lately. We made the latest from Fabulous Diamonds our record of the week a couple months ago and we've been getting really into Total Control and now Super Wild Horses are our newest Australian crush. We imagine you might get super smitten too for SWH's punky high energy fuzzy pop that is totally refreshingly unpretentious, super impassioned and brimming with an integrity that can't be denied. Funny that the record is named Fifteen, as it kind of reminds us a lot of the heyday of Bay Area pop punk with bands like Fifteen, Tilt, Crimpshrine and J Church. We're also reminded of some of our favorite and way underrated bands on Simple Machines from that era like Tuscedero, Scrawl, and Tsunami. In lots of ways SWH seem to connect the dots of that era to the current wave of rad lo-fi minded garage popsters like Brilliant Colors, Wetdog, and Grass Widow. So good!
Best known as the frontman of Silver Scooter, Scott Garred has turned to the new moniker of Super XX Man for this collection of touching, country-laced tales not far from the likes of Belle & Sebastian.
Superbugger is a new duo made up of Antony Milton (Mrtyu, the Stumps, Nether Dawn, Sunken, ) and James Kirk (Sandoz Lab Technicians, Gate), both of whom have a long history in the NZ underground, and who in Superbugger, pay homage to the NZ bands that came before, most specifically the Dead C, Superbugger's sound a similarly blown out, in-the-red, crumbling pop flecked noise rock, as well as some sonic worship for the Japanese bands that pretty much invented psych-noise heaviness, Les Rallizes Denudes, Mainliner, White Heaven and the like. Sans headphones, listening to Superbugger, might be akin to the vacuum or the dishwasher, a constant barrage of grey noise, of staticky buzz and blurred thrum, but strap on some headphones, or crank those speakers, and let this corrosive psych-noise blowout wash over you. Wild squalls of psychedelic shred, caustic sheets of feedback, listen heard and you'll hear drumming, and vocals, melodies, there are definitely pop songs at the heart of some of these jams, while others take that pop element and tear it apart, spreading it out beneath a sky full of black noise and amp melting buzz. We hear plenty of Skullflower too, this definitely sounds like it could be some lost Broken Flag cassette reissued, which is high praise indeed, and while both of these guys have dabbled in psychedelic heaviness, Superbugger seems to be the culmination of these guys' quest for pure psych-noise nirvana, which is almost achievable just by listening.
Fans of any of the above mentioned bands, or anyone who loves cramming their ears full of blown out psych and noise rock crush, preferably both, will definitely find much to love about Supperbugger..
This is a singles compilation from the semi-legendary San Francisco garage / party band Supercharger. Trashy and nosie-y and fun. Weird fact: Darin Raeffelli, singer and guitar player of Supercharger, was responsible in a big way for the creation of The Donnas, and even wrote most of the songs for their first two LP's!
This EP contains two different versions of "Art Class" a song from their most recent album Here's To Shutting Up - the album track and a live acoustic version. Sandwiched between the two are a couple of previously unreleased, suitably bittersweet Superchunk pop
This is probably the most low-key record in Superchunk's history. Lots of quiet parts, some strings, some horns. Definitely not a bad thing. In fact I think those of us who like Superchunk have been itching for something a little different for a while, and 'Come Pick Me Up', while not a drastic departure, could be it.
Brand new slab of clear 7" vinyl from Chapel Hill noise pop heroes Superchunk. Always delivering the goods with such solid and striking results and this new single is no exception. "Crossed Wires" is classic sounding Superchunk, you know the sound that basically a billion other indie-pop bands ripped off, but of course none of them get it right, or come at all close to the level of pure powerpop excellence as the masters themselves. The B side is even more uptempo and driving and just another reminder that summer just never feels the same without some Superchunk jams to blast! The 7" comes with a coupon for a digital download of the two songs as well as demo version of "Crossed Wires."
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
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Hard to believe Superchunk have been around for 15 years, but they've got the records, and now the comprehensive DVD to prove it. Crowding Up Your Visual Field collects all of the band's videos and there are so many good ones, "Throwing Things", "Tie A Rope To The Back Of The Bus", "Mower", "Precision Auto", "Driveway To Driveway" and tons more! But that's not all!! There's also Quest For Sleep, an hour long documentary of the band's 2001 Japanese / European / American tour. Plus a whole bunch of live footage including four songs from the band's first show ever, a video interview, a band history and of course what DVD would be complete without band and director commentary.
Holy cow! Superchunk have been around for fifteen years?! Have to say, they've aged very very VERY gracefully - far better than most of their peers - and with a successful, respected record label to boot! We tip our hat to Mac, Laura, Jon and Jim! To commemorate this occasion, they've unfurled a double cd filled with singles, b-sides, rarities and four previously unreleased songs which include their versions of Adam And The Ants' "Beat My Guest" and Government Issue's "Blending In". Cover-wise, they also tackle Bowie's "Scary Monsters" but that one already made an appearance on the 1000 Pounds ep. All twenty five songs were compiled from Superchunk's musical output of the last decade. So, that means... no "Slack Motherfucker" here! This might be a for-diehard-fans-and-completists-only kind of release 'cause they've admittedly included stuff that falls short of the high Superchunk quality control standards. Even still, the caliber of their cast-offs is pretty darn good, making for an interesting and still very engaging peek at what went into the growth of what was and is a great pop band.
We really can't think of one bad Superchunk record. Really, not one lousy ep, 7", comp track, etc. They've been putting out records for over twenty years now and not one release has been less then spectacular. While their output has slowed way down in the last decade, last years ep. Leaves In The Gutter was vintage Superchunk all the way, reminding us all why we all fell in love with them so hard in the first place. These two brand new songs continue to do the same. Punchy, poppy, catchy and full of impassioned fire. No one writes hookier and more satisfying pop gems than Superchunk. And both of these two songs show off their undying spirit and peerless chops so damn well. With a brand new full length promised for later this year (it's been nine years since a proper long player!) this is whetting our appetite big time for the full on return of these indie rock legends.
As most of you know, last week we were lucky enough to have the mighty Superchunk, perform a super intimate, and totally amazing instore, playing new songs, which sounded amazing acoustic, and old gems that were so great to hear (including their incredible version of Stephen Merritt's "100,000 Fireflies"). After the instore, they went across the street to Lost Weekend Video, where they screened the Superchunk tour movie Quest For Sleep, and then had a Q+A afterwards.
In honor of the Valencia Street Superchunk doubleshot, aQuarius and Lost Weekend had some super swank posters printed up, total classic old school rock posters, eye popping and colorful, art by Reuben Rude, screen printed on nice thick paper, blue and red, that sort of almost 3-D feel, they were limited to just 89 copies, each one numbered and signed, we sold most of them the day of the instore, but we have a handful left, and figured some folks who don't live in SF or couldn't make it, might still want one of these. They're pretty nice, and as they say "suitable for framing", we have 8 or 10 left, and that's all we'll ever have.
Also, if you order one of these with other stuff, they'll have to ship separately, in a tube (they're too nice to fold!), which means another separate shipping charge...
It seems like now we start every Superchunk review with some variation of "What more can we say about Superchunk that hasn't already been said?" But what can you do? It's true. Chapel Hill, North Carolina's finest indie rock sons (and daughter), by now an absolute indie rock institution, pretty much every record a perfect blueprint for how it should be done, but rarely is, and every record containing at least one or two songs that would be a greatest hit, if Superchunk were the sort of band to go in for greatest hits.
Foolish was record number four, originally released in 1994, and is the latest in the ongoing comprehensive Superchunk back catalog reissue campaign, and while we're tempted to proclaim Foolish as one of our favorites, that would be, ahem, FOOLISH, since, they're pretty much all our favorites. Any indie rocker worth their salt who says otherwise needs to have their indie cred card revoked. "Like A Fool" which starts things off, might be one of the the prettiest Superchunk jams ever, that opening melody so perfect, and so forever stuck in our heads. And when the song kicks in proper, it doesn't explode and rock out, instead it's a dark brooder, jangly and heartfelt, the sort of song that must have made it onto a million mixtapes. The 'hit' here was "Driveway To Driveway", with another one of THOSE riffs/melodies, the sort that the second the band starts playing it live, the crowd goes nuts (the same thing happened when the band played an acoustic instore here recently), and the chorus, so good, moving and sweetly melancholy. And we could go through the record track by track, but just know that there's not a bummer in the bunch. And some of the other tracks here most definitely rank up there with the group's best.
Needless to say, absolutely essential indie rock, and with Superchunk you can start anywhere, so if somehow you've yet to check them out, this is as good a place to start as anyplace. One of our favorite record, and groups, EVER.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
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First single from forthcoming full length Come Pick Me Up recorded with Jim O'Rourke. One song here will NOT be on the new album, however.
Marking Merge Records' 201st release is Superchunk's eighth full length. And a splendid one it is. Mac, Laura, Jim and Jon have crafted a glowingly polished pop album with all pieces falling gracefully into place. A smooth, lush progression from their last
It's hard to know what to say about Superchunk after all this time. Easily one of the best, and most consistently GREAT indie rock bands EVER. We can't actually think of a Superchunk record we don't love. And sure, while some are in fact better than others, every single one has at least a few tracks that rank among their best. And Here's Where The Strings Come In is no exception. Their fifth record, originally released in 1995, and re-issued/re-released for this year's Record Store Day, Here's Where The Strings Come In starts off with what has to be one of our favorite Superchunk jams ever, the super kinetic and wildly rocking "Hyper Enough", with its unforgettable main guitar melody and killer chorus, Mac's impassioned vocals, it's pretty much a perfect slab of indie rock power pop. And an auspicious start to a killer Superchunk record. Elsewhere there's the equally hook filled and rocking "Detroit Has A Skyline", the more jangly and laid back "Silverleaf And Snowy Tears", and the crazy catchy title track, and hell, pretty much every track in between. The cool thing about Superchunk is that even though this is record number 5, it could just as easily be number 1, or 2, or 8, their sound timeless, their songwriting perpetually brilliant, the playing energetic and rambunctious, one of those one-in-a-million bands where all the ingredients, the members, the songs, the sound, all coalesce perfectly, and create something special and magical and totally kick ass.
As with all Superchunk records, totally and wholeheartedly recommended. And the video for "Hyper Enough" is pretty great if you haven't seen it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU7YK6zW4nI
It feels like we start every Superchunk review with one of those 'what else is there to say about' intros, but really, what choice do we have. Superchunk are pretty much THEE ultimate indie rock band. They started off decades ago, their sound raw and feral and almost punk rock, the early songs already classics, they started their own label, one that still thrives to this day, the group's sound eventually matured, and while definitely less raw, lost NONE of its magic, the songs still rule, frontman Mac McCauhghan's keening vocals seem impossibly unchanged, even after all this time. The band sounds as tight as ever, as full of youthful energy, which is incredible considering they're closing in on middle age, and as we said in our review of their last full length, Majesty Shredding, which at the time, was their first in nearly a decade, the band continue to outpace groups half their age, who might not have even existed if it weren't for Superchunk.
So yeah, I Hate Music, as no doubt lots of reviewers will inevitably point out, seems to revel in just the opposite, an unbridled joy in music making, and an undying LOVE of music, that sort of positive energy infuses every note on this record. "Me & You & Jackie Mittoo" might be the 'hit', we reviewed the single on the last list, but it's a Superchunk record, so really, every song here is a gem, the biggest surprise maybe being the punked out 75 second blast of "Staying Home" that sounds like vintage Superchunk for sure, but really, pretty much all of I Hate Music is tough not to love, just check out the samples, and you'll be smitten. Fans will want this for sure, it's as good as (if not better than) Majesty Shredding, and while for newbies, we might recommend Foolish or Here's Where The Strings Come in, really ANY Superchunk is a great introduction to a band that has yet to make a bad record...
While they last, we have the super fancy deluxe lp version, that includes a bonus 7" with two unreleased tracks and a Superchunk stencil! Also check out the video for "Me & You & Jackie Mitto", and you might just see our very own Andee holding up his beloved copy of Comus' First Utterance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUxkZreYiQs
It feels like we start every Superchunk review with one of those 'what else is there to say about' intros, but really, what choice do we have. Superchunk are pretty much THEE ultimate indie rock band. They started off decades ago, their sound raw and feral and almost punk rock, the early songs already classics, they started their own label, one that still thrives to this day, the group's sound eventually matured, and while definitely less raw, lost NONE of its magic, the songs still rule, frontman Mac McCauhghan's keening vocals seem impossibly unchanged, even after all this time. The band sounds as tight as ever, as full of youthful energy, which is incredible considering they're closing in on middle age, and as we said in our review of their last full length, Majesty Shredding, which at the time, was their first in nearly a decade, the band continue to outpace groups half their age, who might not have even existed if it weren't for Superchunk.
So yeah, I Hate Music, as no doubt lots of reviewers will inevitably point out, seems to revel in just the opposite, an unbridled joy in music making, and an undying LOVE of music, that sort of positive energy infuses every note on this record. "Me & You & Jackie Mittoo" might be the 'hit', we reviewed the single on the last list, but it's a Superchunk record, so really, every song here is a gem, the biggest surprise maybe being the punked out 75 second blast of "Staying Home" that sounds like vintage Superchunk for sure, but really, pretty much all of I Hate Music is tough not to love, just check out the samples, and you'll be smitten. Fans will want this for sure, it's as good as (if not better than) Majesty Shredding, and while for newbies, we might recommend Foolish or Here's Where The Strings Come in, really ANY Superchunk is a great introduction to a band that has yet to make a bad record...
While they last, we have the super fancy deluxe lp version, that includes a bonus 7" with two unreleased tracks and a Superchunk stencil! Also check out the video for "Me & You & Jackie Mitto", and you might just see our very own Andee holding up his beloved copy of Comus' First Utterance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUxkZreYiQs
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
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The lp has a nice gatefold cover. It's all previously released, hard-to-find stuff from compilations, etc.
For whatever reason, we have never reviewed 1997's Indoor Living, from longtime aQ faves Superchunk, and coincidentally, of all their records, it seems like that one gets way less love than it probably deserves. When people are asked for they favorite Superchunk record, most probably pick No Pocky For Kitty, or On the Mouth, or Foolish, or even Here's Where The Strings Come In, and it's not hard to see why Indoor Living might get left off that list, cuz really, it's kind of a weird record, and sort of low key, with none of the tracks leaping out as a Superchunk 'classic' or 'hit', but in a way, that makes it all the more enjoyable now. Even for us, HUGE Superchunk fans, it's probably the record we've listened to the least, and digging into it now, as it's just been reissued, we're liking it a BUNCH. It's like a whole Superchunk record of deep cuts, some of which really are pretty fantastic. It sounds a bit more introspective, not as hyperkinetic or noise-poppy as some of the others, and there seems to be more keyboards too, and the songs themselves, are slower, and moodier, but there's still plenty of fuzz and crunch, and some serious hooks, and really, the least catchy Superchunk record is still catchier than most bands' least catchiest records, and that definitely is the case here. And if you're a fan, and neglected this one like we did, you don't often get a chance to (re)discover a record from a band in their musical prime, and the more we listen to Indoor Living, the less we understand what the heck we were thinking the first time around. And while, this might not be the one we'd pick as the best introduction to Superchunk, hell, it's sounding pretty goddamn great, and we'd be hard pressed to imagine hearing this, and not wanting to hear more. A new OLD favorite!
If there's one thing you can count on, it's Mac and the Superchunk gang. Over the years, they've continued to evolve yet still maintained a warm familiarity. Sure, they don't rage with their former emo-intensity of "Slack Motherfucker" or "Seed Toss", but instead have shifted focus from indie rock firepower to subtlety and detail. Polished, intelligent, and composed pop. Get ready
Nothing spells springtime and summer fun like Superchunk! So it makes such perfect sense that this brand new ep from the Chapel Hill indie rock pioneers arrived in our hands as the city was in the midst of full on spring fever with the sun shining so bright and everyone flocking to sprawl out and play in the park. It's been over 8 years since their last album, but oh my god do they sound better then ever! They truly are masters at creating energized blasts of power pop infused with punk energy and an indie sensibility they helped cultivate.
Bookended with both electric and acoustic versions of "Learned To Surf", it's a testament to how great Superchunk's are, as they sound just as good whether fully charged and rocking or slowed down and stripped raw to their core. But other than that acoustic version, this record is all about the kick ass super rockin', windows down, runnin' free side of Superchunks punk pop glory. Feels so damn nice to have new Superchunk sounds, especially since it finds them totally on top of their game. Thrilling, catchy and so sonically scrumptious!
Nine years is a seriously long time, but with this latest Superchunk record it might as well have been nine months, heck even nine weeks. It's like they never left. Nine years since their last record, but listening to Majesty Shredding you'd never know it. Yeah, it's a cliche, but in this case it's true. Hardly any bands make it 20 years, and even fewer sound this good after two whole decades, and the crazy thing is that while there are a million bands that sound like Superchunk, or at least have been TRYING to sound like them, the truth is, that nobody sounds like Superchunk. The songs, the sound, Mac's voice, the harmonies, the melodies, Superchunk are definitely one of those rare bands who have a totally unique sound, not so much in that their sound is unlike anything that's come before, instead they've just taken a sound, in this case, a fuzzy punky pop, and made it all their own, refining it and twisting it into a shape that is distinctly and uniquely Superchunk. Don't believe us? Have a listen to the opening one two punch of "Digging For Something" and "My Gap Feels Weird", two songs that stack up against pretty much anything the band has ever recorded. "Digging For Something" is the single, and it makes sense, totally catchy and hooky and super rocking, but also totally classic nineties style college rock, as if they wrote it back in 1991 and only just got around to recording it this year. Cool spidery guitar melodies, loose wild drumming, and a chorus that KILLS. But then there's "My Gap Feels Weird", supposedly a song based on a random post dental procedure comment, but one that could speak just as easily to the gap between these elder statesmen of indie rock, and the current crop of pop punk contenders, but whatever it means, it's possibly the raddest Superchunk jam in years, rollicking and rambunctious, with a cool weird hooky chorus, complete with some cool falsetto vox and a a verse that manages to be just as catchy as the chorus! We'd love to break down the rest of the record more, but these first two track have been on nonstop repeat play since this first came in. But fear not, as we dig deeper and deeper into the rest of the tracks, it's obvious, like past Superchunk records, it's all killer, no filler. Now excuse us while we go back and listen to this again from the top!!!
After nearly a decade off, Superchunk returned in 2010 with the kick ass Majesty Shredding record, which sounded like hardly a day had passed, Superchunk at middle age sounding way more relevant than pretty much 90 percent of the bands half their age. Over the last couple years, the band has been dropping a single every few months, to remind us that we hopefully weren't gonna have to wait another decade for a new full length, so here's the teaser to the upcoming/impending I Hate Music album, the A side finding the band namechecking Jackie Mittoo and sounding a lot like The Cars! Total seventies/eighties style power pop Superchunk style. A short blast of nearly perfect pop that is balanced by the exclusive B side, which sounds more like classic Superchunk, all crunchy guitars, soaring vox, and a big sing-along-chorus, that sounds like it could be from the soundtrack of some teen movie, the music from the moment when the guy gets the girl, our heroes win the game, the town is saved, the bad guys are foiled, everything works out, and this is the summer we're gonna remember forever!!
Pressed on clear blue vinyl, and includes a download code!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
It's pretty much impossible to overestimate the importance of North Carolina's Superchunk on the indie rock landscape, by now most folks, even those with just the most fleeting interest in popular music, are probably familair with these scrappy punk pop indie rockers, heck, Superchunk frontman Mac McCaughan was recently a special guest on NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, which is about as mainstream as it gets. Yet even now, playing festivals, headlining huge shows, showing up on NPR, selling thousands and thousands of records, the band still SOUNDS the way they did when they were a little DIY rock band from Chapel Hill, and the music is just as energetic and fun and crazy catchy, which makes sense really, Superchunk definitely did it their way, 20 years and still going strong, van tour after van tour, sweaty club shows, lots of 7"s that many of us still treasure, and let's not forget, launching, and to this day still running, one of the coolest (and one of the most important) indie labels around, Merge Records.
But as they say, it's all about the music, and holy crap, does Superchunk make some of the catchiest, hookiest, most rocking, supercharged indie rock around. STILL. But if there was a pantheon for greatest indie rock records of all time, up there alongside Slint's Spiderland, Pavement's Slanted And Enchanted, Sunny Day Real Estate's Diary, Guided By Voices ' Bee Thousand, etc, we would most definitely have to include Superchunk's second and third albums, No Pocky For Kitty and On The Mouth.
While their 1990 self titled debut included the ALL TIME indie rock anthem "Slack Motherfucker", the band's first single and perhaps defining moment, everything great about Superchunk got even greater with No Pocky For Kitty. The sound tighter, more rocking, the songs EVEN CATCHIER. Every single track on No Pocky is an indie rock classic. The opening salvo of "Skip Steps 1 & 3", Seed Toss" and "Cast Iron" is pretty impossible to beat, the crunchy LOUD guitars, the pounding drums, Mac's high emotive vocals, and hooks, all over the goddamn place, so catchy it plays like a greatest hits more than an album proper. Jangly and bittersweet, gorgeous melodies, incredible lyrics, all of these songs destined for mixtapes for sure.
And remember when we said those first three songs were tough to beat? Well, that's only if you don't consider the rest of the record. Highlights include "Punch Me Harder" is a driving distorted rocker, with ridiculously hooky guitars, and a chorus that kills, and a verse that's just as catchy, and record closer "Throwing Things", which is just so perfect, midtempo and dreamy, with a keening main melody that will get stuck in your head forEVER.
Easily one of our favorite records ever, indie rock or otherwise!
It's pretty much impossible to overestimate the importance of North Carolina's Superchunk on the indie rock landscape, by now most folks, even those with just the most fleeting interest in popular music, are probably familair with these scrappy punk pop indie rockers, heck, Superchunk frontman Mac McCaughan was recently a special guest on NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, which is about as mainstream as it gets. Yet even now, playing festivals, headlining huge shows, showing up on NPR, selling thousands and thousands of records, the band still SOUNDS the way they did when they were a little DIY rock band from Chapel Hill, and the music is just as energetic and fun and crazy catchy, which makes sense really, Superchunk definitely did it their way, 20 years and still going strong, van tour after van tour, sweaty club shows, lots of 7"s that many of us still treasure, and let's not forget, launching, and to this day still running, one of the coolest (and one of the most important) indie labels around, Merge Records.
But as they say, it's all about the music, and holy crap, does Superchunk make some of the catchiest, hookiest, most rocking, supercharged indie rock around. STILL. But if there was a pantheon for greatest indie rock records of all time, up there alongside Slint's Spiderland, Pavement's Slanted And Enchanted, Sunny Day Real Estate's Diary, Guided By Voices ' Bee Thousand, etc, we would most definitely have to include Superchunk's second and third albums, No Pocky For Kitty and On The Mouth.
On the Mouth was Superchunk's third record, originally released in 1993, and was in the unenviable task of following up the near perfect and crazy iconic No Pocky For Kitty, but it's like the band was already totally prepared to wipe that skeptical smirk of the faces of all non bleievers, cuz right out of the gate comes "Precision Auto", maybe one of their raddest jams yet, fast and furious, with those immediately recognizable intertwining crunchy guitar harmonies, and then yeah, another chorus any other band would sell their souls for. And like No Pocky before it, the band basically dares themselves to keep the rest of the record as kick as and cartchy as the opener, and damn if they don't toally pull it off. Some of our other all time Superchunk faves are here, "Mower", a loping hook filled churn, with thick buzzing bass, crashing guitars a verse and a chorus both competing for the catchiness crown. And then there's "The Question Is How Fast", a ridiculously anthemic jam, as supercharged as anything they've written, but also subtly moody, with woozy serpentine melodies, more kick ass drumming, and a cool halftime lead-in straight into another killer chorus, and at the risk of getting way too repetitive, just more hooks and more catchiness...
Seventeen years later, and On The Mouth could have come out yesterday, and somehow still sounds better than about 99 percent of the the other indie rock out there...
A pitch perfect summer single from indie rock heroes Superchunk. The A side is a brand new original, that embodies everything we love about Superchunk, fuzzy, jangly hooky, even hand claps (!), a perfect blast of summery indie pop crunch, with a killer chorus, a classic jam that once again demonstrates Superchunk have somehow only gotten better with age.
And the flipside keeps the summer theme going, with a cover of Bananarama's "Cruel Summer", which is transformed into a dark, crunchy, chuggy jam, surprisingly fuzzed out and a little punked up, sounding like it could easily be a Superchunk original. Which as longtime fans know, is what makes Superchunk covers so good. Comes with a digital download which includes a bonus track, an acoustic version of the A side...
LIMITED TO 1300 COPIES, each one hand numbered. Pressed on white vinyl.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Back in stock again, an old time favorite that has strange ties to some of our current faves!
Not a new release, but we figured fans of the New Pornographers / Zumpano school of fantastic pop just might want to take a trip back to some pre-New Porn Carl Newman-penned weirdly wonderful hits. Superconductor were a veritable crowd of Vancouver indie rockers who were known to annually perform an honorable tribute to Neil Diamond with great aplomb, and who all too often were dismissed as simply a quantity-not-quality, eight guitar, maximum volume, hairy, screwy supergroup bunch of guys (which they indeed were earlier on), In later days they seemed to become much more of a Newman-dominated group. Brilliantly covering Donovan's "Colors" and The La's "There She Goes" (long before the dreadful Six Pence None The Richer's horrendously bland version). His mighty grand pop songwriting skills seeped into the works of the 'Conductor making for a much more melodic and crafted album than previous noisier efforts. That's not to say that they're no longer hefty nor immensely retarded as hell at times. No way! Case in point, "Gimp Stroll" and the lil' twinkie sounds of "Merry Tune Of Seduction". That said they also kick ass on many current electronic-rock bands such as Trans Am with tracks like "Computer Stroll" then leap into some weepy-eyed, melodramatic balladry on "Mary Ann". And you can even catch a glimpse of his formerly more frequently heard shriek on "Goddess of Fire, Poetry, Handicrafts And Metalwork". With a few exceptions, most tracks are mere sonic spurts rarely stretching past a couple minutes a piece, wasting not a moment before proceeding on to their next musical mission. Awesome.
We've long been fans of Canadian 'supergroup' Superconductor, long before Superconductor member Carl Newman went on to front Zumpano and then New Pornographers, but don't be expecting any sort of pop here, although those pop sensibilities do seep into SC's twisted experimental noise rock. Infamous for their seven (7!) guitarist lineup, these guys kicked out some seriously kick ass jams, heavy, rhythmic, dynamic, walls of guitars, pounding octopoidal drums, howled vox, but somehow, catchy as hell too. We reviewed their classic Bastardsong a while back, their last, and poppiest record, but we just discovered that our distributor still had copies of this, SC's 1991 debut ep, which still kills, and sounds heavier and hookier than most of the bands today, and includes one very aQ jam that knocked us for a loop.
It had been a while since we heard this, but got one in and threw it on, and wait a second, we recognized one of the songs, riffy and heavy, and then the vocals, a super distinctive wail, and it dawned on us, it was a cover of Japanese '70s hard psych gods Flower Travellin' Band's "Satori", and it was awesome, not that far removed from the original, the vocals spot on, just a bit buzzier and heavier. And we were struck again by what amazing music nerds these guys were. The cover of Bastardsong was a parody of Iasos' new age classic Inter-Dimensional Music which we just listed a while back, and here they were covering Flower Travellin' Band WAY before any of us had heard them. And it's that music nerdery that informed the music of Superconductor and elevated their sound WAY beyond bash and crash noise rock. So yeah, the FTB cover here is worth the price of admission. But the rest of the songs rule too, "Bushpilot" is ridiculously hooky and catchy for being a weirdly mathy chunk of noise drenched indie rock, a should have been nineties underground hit if there ever was one. "Ride The Big Penis", besides having an amazing title, also boasts some serious churning riffage, and some skull caving drum pummel, which leads directly into "Clamhammer" (these guys had a way with titles), another melody infused slab of noiserock, that sounds a bit like Sonic Youth mixed with Unsane mixed with Polvo, angular and buzzy and sludgey and blown out. Finally, the group finishes off with "Riffmania", which is as advertised, chugging, buzzing riffage wrapped around some BIG drums, with the multiple guitarists adding all sorts of psychedelic squiggle and layered buzz, not to mention some seriously distorted in-the-red vocal howls (about as far removed from the New Pornographers as can be), the song gradually splintering into crumbling slabs of disembodied riffage, swirls of feedback and wildly loosening drum damage.
Oh did we mention the amazing confusional cover art, how about the names of the band members: Dream Whip, It's On You, Thighmaster, He Who Is Named, Flying Fist, Noise Annoys, El Impacto, Sweet Bitch, Delicious Warm, and weirdest of all... Alan Smithee (the pseudonym movie directors use when they don't want their own name on a film!).
We love these guys, and this might be their finest moment, heavy and hooky in equal measure, tongue lodged firmly in cheek, but seriously ruling!
La Mer, or the sea, is the title, suggesting waves - beaches - bliss. Fluid, flowing. Yeah that's the vibe Superconnection achieve here on this lovely disc of moodily relaxed live electronic music, all gently burbling rhythms and melody, brought to us via Germany's discerning M=minimal label (Conrad Schnitzler, Borngraber & Struver). Superconnection is a trio of Berlin/Vienna electronica scene vets, including one of the guys from downtempo duo Tosca, Rupert Huber, who plays electronic piano here (he's also credited with "voice structures", whatever that means, we don't hear much in the way of singing on this), alongside Hanno Leichtmann, who handles drum programming, and Hannes Stobl on bass. This is Superconnection's debut, though these three guys made a disc under the name Dawn back in 1998.
La Mer was performed and recorded live in the studio, so even though it's in the electronic/techno realm it has an organic feel, quietly mesmeric and minimal, spacious and precise. It grooves, but softly and sweetly. Very recommended for anyone wanting to float away for an afternoon. Imagine, maybe, Cluster and Radian together on a Mediterranean vacation, under mostly sunny skies.
