Superchunk – Majesty Shredding (Merge Records)
I’m one of those people who first started to listen to Superchunk a year or two ago and now hail them as one of the greatest bands ever. I’m sorry I was late to the party. Excuse my ignorance. Despite my tardiness, my enthusiasm for this band is genuine. The band’s new album, Majesty Shredding, is their ninth full length, and has been one of my most anticipated records this year.
Superchunk – Majesty Shredding (Merge Records)
I’m one of those people who first started to listen to Superchunk a year or two ago and now hail them as one of the greatest bands ever. I’m sorry I was late to the party. Excuse my ignorance. Despite my tardiness, my enthusiasm for this band is genuine. The band’s new album, Majesty Shredding, is their ninth full length, and has been one of my most anticipated records this year.
I put off buying this record until a week ago. Merge, the Superchunk-owned label that released the record, was selling it for $19 on their website and I couldn’t find it much cheaper anywhere in town. While I think that is a price worth paying for this record, my own financial situation doesn’t justify me spending that much money on a record very often. I finally found it at Vinyl Conflict for $16, and the three-dollar difference was enough to convince me to give in to temptation. The record has not left my turntable since its purchase.
This new collection of Superchunk’s poppy, anthemic alt-rock features a lot of the classic 90s pop riffs, twangy guitar leads, and full, nasally vocals that made this band popular with the college and indie crowds years ago. Many bands that have been around as long as Superchunk have lost their appetite for studio prowess, focusing mainly on their live performances and touring on the hits that made them relevant in the first place. Superchunk seems intent on remaining at the crest. The record’s second track, “My Gap Feels Weird,” seems to be a song in recognition of the fact that Superchunk’s members are likely nearly twice the age of many of their listeners: “Here is a song for the kids down on the corner, with the look that tells you you don’t even know them and you never will.”
A major part of a great pop record is pacing. Credit must be given to whoever was in charge of arranging this album, as the songs all seem to fit perfectly in place with one another. Fast to slow, poppy to solemn–this record transitions flawlessly. From the fast, terracing verses of the albums opening track, “Digging for Something,” to the sad, haunting “oohs” in its closer, “Everything at Once,” this album hits on all the right spots.
