Search - Superchunk :: Here's to Shutting Up

I believe some dead Greek guy said "comparison is odious."

Stargrazer | deep in the heart of Michigan | 10/20/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Considering the arc of Superchunk's career and the sheer volume of songs (most of them quite excellent) that they've recorded, it's no surprise that the sound and the energy of the band have changed over time -- no doubt paralleling their listening habits, life experiences, etc.



As young upstarts they delivered album after album of careening guitars and vocals strained to the point of cracking. Anthem after anthem, even when looked at objectively. As the flagship band of their own label (Merge, home to an indie-rockers dream roster of musicians -- Robert Pollard, Polvo, The Arcade Fire, The Buzzcocks, Camera Obscura, M. Ward, Spoon, Neutral Milk Hotel, need I go on?), they have every right to shatter their own mold. Which is what they do on "Here's To Shutting Up." Is the title a preemptive strike against critics who would diss them regardless of what they did? Many "mature" contemporary bands at this stage in their career are caught in the critical catch 22 -- they're either going to be accused of "not progressing" if they revisit their core "classic" sound, or they'll be accused of "going soft/jumping on bandwagons" if they experiment.



What's a band to do?



"Here's To Shutting Up" bares its pop teeth first and foremost with a collection of fluid, solidly written songs. Lyrics are a little more lighthearted this time out, though still littered with (most apparently) airplane disaster imagery. Considering the CDs release date of October 2001, this touches a pretty raw nerve in many listeners.



For my tastes, this trumps "Come Pick Me Up" -- lauded as a perfect album by many, though I find it contains the closest things to dud songs in the Superchunk canon. HTSU takes the lessons of CPMU and crafts them effortlessly into rough-hewn gems while still hearkening to the effortless punkishness that so often crops up on their B-sides (of all places).



Start here or finish here, but definitely put this in your stereo."

A long way to fall

peetawonkus | Seattle | 09/30/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I loved Superchunk back in the day. Saw them live in the mid-90s and they were amazing. But after "Foolish" the energy just seemed to leak out of them until they've come to this. Alt, indie, rawken role--whatever its alias--should never have strings. Period. "Maturity" is no excuse for a viola or a cello. If you've really found maturity, write better lyrics. This is elevator music for indie punkers starting to gray around the temples. Sadly, the "chunk" could learn a little something from old punkers like Dead Moon about how getting long in the tooth doesn't mean you can't still tear it up. For those new to Superchunk, go back and listen to everything from "No Pocky For Kitty" to "Foolish". Those were great recordings and they had a good run. Too bad they outran their own legend."