Superchunk is an American
indie rock band from Chapel Hill,
North Carolina
, consisting of singer/guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster.
History
Superchunk
was formed in 1989 in the town of Chapel Hill,
North Carolina, by Mac McCaughan
(guitar and vocals), Laura Ballance
(bass), Chuck Garrison (drums), and Jack McCook (guitar).
Initially, the band went by the name Chunk (original drummer Chuck
Garrison received some junk mail with his name misspelled as
"Chunk" Garrison, and the name stuck), and their first single was
released under the Chunk moniker.
[25533] After adding the "Super" prefix to
their name, the first official Superchunk single, "Slack
Motherfucker," followed in 1989 on
Merge
Records, founded by
Mac McCaughan
and
Laura Ballance. Both releases
were well-received, and Superchunk would release its debut
self-titled album in 1990 on
Matador Records to more critical
acclaim.
Jack McCook decided to leave the group after the release of the
first album,
Superchunk,
and Connecticut-born James Wilbur was recruited to take over guitar
duties. In spite of the ensuing bidding war that emerged between
major record labels in the aftermath of the album's release,
Superchunk decided to stay independent, sticking with
Matador Records for their second, just as
critically lauded LP,
No Pocky
for Kitty.
No Pocky
for Kitty was recorded in Chicago
by Steve Albini in 1991. Chuck Garrison
left the band a few weeks before the record’s release, and
Jon Wurster was brought on board for
drums.
The band put out one more record for
Matador,
On the
Mouth in 1993. After Matador entered into a distribution
agreement with major label
Atlantic
Records, Superchunk decided to leave the label, even though the
Atlantic logo did not have to be displayed on their releases.
Instead, the band opted to release its own records, through
Merge Records, which had been founded
in 1989 by McCaughan and Ballance. The next album,
Foolish, brought further critical
acclaim for the band in 1994. A second singles compilation (the
first was 1992’s
Tossing
Seeds) came out in the summer of 1995. It was titled
Incidental Music
1991–95 and contained most of their hard-to-find tracks
(imports, B-sides, comp. tracks) released between 1991 and
1995.
Boston was the setting for Superchunk’s next album session. 1995’s
Here’s Where the
Strings Come In was recorded at the city’s
Fort Apache Studios and slated for a
fall release. The band toured hard for
Strings all over
the world as well as appearing on the
Lollapalooza tour, scoring a minor hit with the
“Hyper Enough” single and video.
After a brief hiatus and another Australian tour, the band released
a limited-edition EP called
The Laughter Guns. The band
then started the writing process for what would become
Indoor Living. Recording commenced in
Bloomington, Indiana’s
Echo Park
Studios with Chapel Hillian
John
Plymale co-producing with the band. Superchunk stretched out a
bit on
Indoor Living,
expanding their sound by adding some new instruments to the mix:
piano, organ, vibes and more. The album was by far their most
adventurous and at the same time their most accessible to date.
[25534]
Superchunk delivered
Come Pick Me
Up, their 7th full-length studio release in 1999.
Recording
in Chicago at Electrical Audio with producer Jim O'Rourke. Superchunk
continued the expansion and growth of their sound that started with
Foolish, pushing themselves to new heights of
creativity.
In 2001, the band released
Here's to Shutting Up, their most
recent full-length studio album.
In 2002, Superchunk released two of the three limited-edition Live
albums known as The Clambakes series. Clambakes Volume 1 (limited
to 1,500 copies) is an acoustic live set recorded in various record
stores across the United States in support of
Here's to Shutting Up and
Clambakes Volume 2 (limited to 2,500 copies) is a film score that
Superchunk was commissioned to write.
It was recorded live
at the Castro
Theater
in San
Francisco
, April 23,
2002, during the San Francisco
International Film Festival at a showing of Kinugasa's 1926
film A Page of
Madness.
Cup of Sand, released in 2003,
is the third singles album compiling all singles and rare tracks
from 1995 - 2002.
The third
and final Clambakes Series Volume 3 was released in 2004,
documenting the live set Superchunk played at the Cat's Cradle in
Carrboro
, North Carolina
, on July 23, 1999, for the Merge Records 10-year anniversary
celebration.
In 2006, Superchunk headlined a concert held in celebration of the
10th anniversary of The Daily Show, a Comedy Central program, at
Irving Plaza in New York. The show also featured a performance from
Clem Snide as well as short stand up comedy sets from various Daily
Show correspondents.
In 2007, Superchunk contributed a hidden track to the
Aqua Teen Hunger Force soundtrack, "Misfits and Mistakes", with
singing from
Aqua Teen Hunger
Force character
Meatwad. On
June 5, 2007, Superchunk released the
Misfits and
Mistakes 7", which has the Superchunk solo version on the
A-side, and the Meatwad version on the B-side.
The band
has recently played two shows, the Eff Cancer Benefit in Chicago on
June 20, 2007, and headlined the inaugural
free Pool Parties show at McCarren Park
Pool
in Brooklyn
, New York
.
They're
also known to still play occasional one-off shows in their home
state of North
Carolina, usually at
the Cat's Cradle venue in Carrboro.
Superchunk also recorded a cover version of "Say My Name" by
Destiny's Child for
Engine Room Recordings' compilation
album
Guilt by
Association, set to be released September 2007.
Superchunk
appeared at Coachella Valley Music and Arts
Festival
in Indio California on
Saturday April 18 2009 along with other major acts as Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The
Killers, M.I.A., TV On The Radio, Band Of Horses.
On April 7, 2009, Superchunk released the Leaves in the Gutter EP,
their first CD release in 7 years. It consisted of 3 unreleased
tracks, in addition to "Misfits and Mistakes" and an acoustic
version of the new song "Learned to Surf".
On May 28, 2009, the band announced a new 7" "Crossed Wires" b/w
"Blinders (Fast Vers.)", which released on July 7, 2009. It was
initially limited to a pressing of 1000 on clear vinyl.
Discography
Superchunk's main studio albums (excluding compilations, live
albums, EPs, singles, etc.) are:
Side projects
Mac McCaughan has recorded several albums as
Portastatic. Initially a solo project,
Portastatic has evolved into a full band, which currently includes
Superchunk's Jim Wilbur as a member.
Jim Wilbur has recorded a number of singles and an album as
Humidifier. The album
Nothing Changes was released on Link
Records in 1996. Humidifier also includes John King from another
Merge Records band, Spent.
External links
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search
