#10 - Superchunk - Majesty Shredding

Superchunk - Majesty Shredding (2010)

When I heard Majesty Shredding for the first time, I knew it was going to be my album of the year, and thought it could even be the album of the decade. I latched onto this one so hard it hurt. It hurt because I had only gotten into Superchunk a couple years prior. I know, I know, I seem like the kind of indie rock nerd who was mainlining “Slack Motherfucker” in high school, and I would have had I had the good sense to leave my stupid little punk rawk bivouac. Better late than never, I suppose, and man this album just kicks so much ass. It’s one of those perfect records where, after you’ve spent 4 months with it, every song has had a chance to be your favorite songs. It’s why the closer “Everything at Once” was the track that made the cut on my Favorite Songs of 2010. I mean, I don’t know if Jenny knows this but the reason I suggested Rosie was 100% based on the song “Rosemarie.” That Superchunk made this after a 10 year hiatus when most of them were doing general mom and dad stuff is insane to me. This album has more energy than a lot of bands half their age. On top of that, they released two more albums in the 2010's with just as much energy, if not more (I Hate Music (2013)), What a Time to Be Alive (2018)). You put Majesty Shredding up against any other album in their extensive and extensively awesome back catalog and it’s a contender every time.

Superchunk - Here's Where the Strings Come In

Superchunk – Here’s Where the Strings Come In

Merge, 1995

Acquired: Discogs, Used, 2015

Price: $14

Jenny and I used to joke about my record collection being our “Cancer Fund.” So when I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and the bills started piling up, I started listing records on Discogs. I didn’t go crazy, I just pulled out the ones I knew I didn’t really need. Unfortunately, since this straddled both 2014 and 2015, I had two deductibles and out-of-pocket maximum’s to meet, which weighted in at $4,000. I got the hospital to knock off a big chunk of what I owed them because we don’t even make enough money to pay rent anywhere, so that was cool, but the bills were still a headache. I did pretty good! But of course, I’m useless and for some bizarre reason I created a wantlist on discogs so I could counter all of my good hard work. I only bought three records, and only when the prices were just too good to refuse. And I bought them under the guise of “LIFE IS SHORT ENJOY YOURSELF.” Of course this was one of the records I bought, which is weird because I don’t think I had even listened to this album all the way through before it showed up on my doorstep.

While I hadn’t listened to Here’s Where the Strings Come In, I bought it without thinking because it contains one of my favorite Superchunk songs: “Detroit Has a Skyline.” Jesus Christ, just put that song on in the car, roll the windows down and try not to get in a wreck as you scream along at the top of your lungs and bash the dash with improvised faux-drum fills. If I found a karaoke bar that had that track on tap I’d never leave. It’s one of the great rock songs of our era and I dare you not to let this song grab you by the throat and drag you across the ground for three minutes.

Unsurprisingly Here’s Where the Strings Come In is as solid as every other Superchunk record. I can’t think of a band with a more stable discography. After the first couple of primordial records from about On the Mouth on the level of quality has never ever dipped (and you could probably even make it from No Pocky for Kitty on depending on how sentimental you are). There really isn’t a point where the wave crests; it just keeps rolling along, perfectly surfable. Strings might be the point where Superchunk showed no signs of letting up on the sweet-spot indie rock. It was cancer money well spent. Now if only I can get Indoor Living for a sweetheart deal…

"Detroit Has a Skyline"

B-Side Worship: Superchunk - "Home at Dawn"

Superchunk – “Home at Dawn”
Snap! Crackle! Punk!, 1994

Superchunk have a lot of fucking fantastic fist-pumping anthems. They’re the flagship jams that people think of when they think of Superchunk. “Slack Motherfucker.” “Precision Auto.” “Hyper Enough.” “Detroit Has a Skyline.” These are all songs that are very near and dear to me, but my favorite Superchunk song is one of their least fist-pumpy songs, “Home at Dawn.” It’s special for a few reasons, a big one being I’d never heard it until I randomly found it on vinyl at Love Garden, took it home, threw it on the turntable, and proceeded to listen to it twenty times. I couldn’t get enough. I still can’t get enough. It’s one of those songs I’ll listen to on repeat. The way that guitar line reels with the character in the story Mac is telling us. The embarrassment of walking home after spending most of the night with someone. Probably hungover. Definitely hungover. It’s so beautifully realized, it puts you right there. On that sidewalk, stumbling over the bricks as the sun starts to creep over the horizon. No traffic on a usually busy street. Everything simultaneously new and ending, locked in a loop. I’ve already covered this song on this blog already, but I love it so much I’m covering it again.

Gut Feeling: Superchunk - I Hate Music

Superchunk – I Hate Music

Merge, 2013

 

My brain was way too wired for Majesty Shredding when I Hate Music was released in August. Maybe it had something to do with the band only taking three years to release this album opposed to nine with the last one. Majesty Shredding also caught me at this perfect little moment where I was falling deeply in love with Superchunk and making up for all the time I kept them on the back burner. For the longest time they were a band I knew I would love, absorbed in tiny doses, but ultimately tried to keep up with modern music. And then I quit trying to keep up with modern music, worked at a used CD store three twelve-hour shifts a week and played Indoor Living roughly 60 times in store during my six-month tenure. When Majesty Shredding hit I felt something I’ve felt maybe ten times in my life. The feeling of absolute FUCK YES. All caps. I had that same feeling when I had the good fortune of seeing Guided by Voices play live. It’s a feeling of realizing, via the will of the gods, you haven’t missed the boat and yes, you can still bask in the glory of the good old days of indie rock royalty. Majesty Shredding was as good as any Superchunk album I’d played to death and even after getting neck deep into their complete discography and history over the interim three years between albums, that shit holds its own against any of the acknowledge high points (assuming Superchunk have such defined high watermarks considering one of my favorite things about the band is their absolute steadiness). So I Hate Music was a let down at first because I didn’t immediately love it as much an album I listened to once a day in the last three months of 2010. That is a dumb way to judge music, so I set it aside and let it chill.

Two months later and I’m fucking hooked. I started running again, and the first album I loaded onto my ipod was I Hate Music. I hadn’t listened to it since August, but it’s tough to find ultra spectacular workout jams. Superchunk makes me want to run through a goddamn brick wall. First time back on the treadmill and I am in love with I Hate Music. Not just because it kicks ass, but because it’s a more cohesive effort than Majesty Shredding. It’s insane for my brain to even process that, but a quicker turnaround between records often leads to stuff that’s got more spark than stuff you’ve been plucking away at for almost a decade. There’s new life on I Hate Music. It feels forbidden. Like Superchunk was supposed to be kaput with Here’s to Shutting Up and yet here they are, making every young indie rock band look like they’re trying way too hard. It must be liberating when there is nothing on the line. Everyone in this band could easily just settle down into their family lives (Mac and Laura especially, considering the fortune Arcade Fire must be netting them) and yet, here they are. Delivering everything from easy little sing-a-long pop gems like “Me & You & Jackie Mitoo” and suckerpunch heartwrenchers like “Low F.” You don’t even realize how good some of the songs are until you catch yourself singing them in the car (the chorus on “Trees of Barcelona,” the back half of “Your Theme”). I don’t know when the band has ever sounded this versatile either (see: songs spanning from the 1:15 length punk nugget “Staying Home” to the 6:10 length closer, the mollassesy slow-burn jam “What Can We Do”). It’s not really that big a deal, but I never expect Superchunk to be versatile. They could just do an album that was 12 “Breaking Downs” and I’d be more than content and I guess it all comes down to the thing about new Superchunk albums being like a gift for a holiday you didn’t know about. A welcome surprise of outstanding quality that leaves you generally thankful to be part of a world where great people make great things and are gracious enough to share them with you.

"Me & You & Jackie Mittoo" 

"Low F"

"Trees of Barcelona"