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It's funny, because a week or so after Mike and I saw Superchunk play a free in-store at Sonic Boom Records, I found myself saying to Mike, "Dang, that show was so good, I wish I would've snuck in a tape recorder and bootlegged it..."
Well, thanks, Superchunk!!! : ) They heard my prayers and they delivered with this great limited-edition CD. I'll just let them explain: it's the "first volume of a series of "official bootleg" CD's called The Clambakes Series. The CD is cleverly titled Vol. 1 Acoustic In- Stores East & West and is an 18-track collection of acoustic recordings from in-store appearances during the band's 2001 fall tour." Whew! And, hey, check out the 'Chunk's news page and check out the photo credit. ; ) Hee hee hee!!!
So, anyway, what we have here is some stripped down, quiet, intimate stuff from the band as they traipsed across the country. People tend to think bootlegs are a hardcore-fan-only item, but if you, like me, have fallen in love with the quieter, more mature Superchunk, then you're gonna definitely want this. : ) Mac's vocals on Greensboro, NC's "Drool Collection" are just amazing, and I love hearing the cute little casio keyboard intro. Plus, it's cool to hear the different versions of "Art Class" or "Rainy Streets" played in Chapel Hill versus Seattle. And their acoustic version of "Throwing Things" really kicks butt. It's getting harder to find since it's a limited pressing of 1,500. So, don't hesitate. (janice.05.02)
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here's to shutting up • merge records • 2002
Now, I've always liked Superchunk. I've never actually bought any of their CDs, but I've always dated boys who owned them all, and one Christmas, I was standing in the CD section of Best Buy convincing a dad that he needed to buy his daughter a copy of "Foolish" and Dinosaur Jr.'s "Without A Sound." (I still wonder to this day what she must've thought when she unwrapped her presents that year...)
So, yes, I've always liked the 'Chunk. But with the release of 2001's "Here's To Shutting Up" I can honestly say I LOVE them. Yes, with all my heart!!! I love them I love them I love them! Living here in Seattle, we've gotten to see them live twice now, both times for free. Because you see, back when I only liked them, I wouldn't have wanted to pay to see them. But as we've seen them play live, and as I've heard the songs from the new CD, I fell in love. We finally bought the new disc the other day, and I haven't been able to put it down! I even took it to work, listened to it three-times over and over, until my co-workers were ready to kill me. I forced the CD on Mike, saying, "This is SO good! You have to listen to it! You will love it!" So, he took it to work, and now he's in love, too. We were discussing it, and in our starry-eyed enthrallment, the best we could say was, "It's so....yeah." We think Superchunk should use this quote in their next press release.
So, the new CD! It's sooo....yeah! I have such a hard time putting my love for this into words, but here I go: unlike previous releases, this CD has a gentle, melodic-ness that other albums never quite tapped into. Gone is the rocking frantic punk of "Hyper Enough" or "Throwing Things." Now they've been replaced with a string section and a mature, almost-melancholy sound. The songs are quieter, charming. One reviewer suggested that Mac's recent touring with Yo La Tengo might've had an influence on the album's new sound, and I must say, that's a really good theory! Just listen to the opening organ on "What Do You Look Forward To?" and the way it blends into "Drool Collection" and tell me it doesn't sound like YLT, particularly circa Painful? And if we say the recent YLT tour influenced them, then don't you hear a bit of Lambchop (the tour openers that time around) in "Phone Sex"?
"Art Class (Song for Yayoi Kusama)" is one of the most familiar rocking songs on the album, but Mac's still working his falsetto and it lacks the bark and bite from the early 90's.
One question: in the light of September 11th, does anyone else find it a little uncomfortable listening to the chorus of "Plane crash footage on TV/I know it could be me" on "Phone Sex"? It's weird, because since the album was released in August, it's completely unrelated. But in light of those events, it just kinda made me stop for a second. (j.01.02)
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