The Onion AV Club just wrapped up “Undercover,” their fantastic series of covers of songs they love by bands they love. The Clientele, Wye Oak & Superchunk all did covers for them, and Superchunk’s “Detroit Has a Skyline” was covered by Cymbals Eat Guitars.
Vote for The Clientele’s cover of MIA’s “Paper Planes,” Wye Oak’s cover of The Kinks’ “Strangers,” & Superchunk’s cover of The Cure’s “In Between Days to make the “Top 5″ and watch a wrap up of all 25 covers at the AV Club.
Newly remastered and reissued versions of On the Mouth and No Pocky for Kitty are available today on CD, LP and digital download at your favorite record store, digital provider and the Merge store.
Remastered by Jason Ward at Chicago Mastering Company from the original 1/2″ reels, both albums will be available for the first time on 180 gram vinyl (with download coupon), and on CD newly packaged in LP-style cardboard sleeves.
Order On the Mouth and No Pocky for Kitty on CD, LP or digital download in the Merge store, and don’t forget to pre-order the new Superchunk album, Majesty Shredding on CD or LP while you are there!
Superchunk will be on tour this fall beginning with their CD release show on Sept 16 at the Nasher Museum in Durham, NC. A new show in Montreal has just been added, too!
Superchunk on tour:
9/16 Durham, NC – The Nasher Museum
9/17 Washington, DC- 930 Club
9/18 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
9/19 Brooklyn, NY- Music Hall of Williamsburg
9/20 New York, NY – Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
9/21 Boston, MA- Royale
9/22 Philadelphia, PA- Trocadero
9/23 Montreal, QC- Le National
10/2 Las Vegas, NV – Matador 21
10/13 Vancouver, BC – Venue Nightclub
10/14 Seattle, WA – The Showbox
10/15 Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom
10/19 Los Angeles, CA – The Music Box at Fonda
Superchunk will celebrate the release of their new album Majesty Shredding with a concert on Thursday, Sept. 16, at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.
After releasing their first 7-inch in 1989, Superchunk became one of North Carolina rock’s most famous exports, and excitement for their first new album in nine years is spreading nationwide. Under the Radar Magazine says Majesty Shredding displays “a cohesive band scaling the heights of their formidable powers,” and Time Out Chicago says the album “puts the pedal to the metal with youthful abandon.”
The Superchunk performance, a complement to the Nasher Museum’s exhibition “The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl,” will take place after a 7 p.m. talk by New York-based visual artist Xaviera Simmons, whose work is part of the exhibition. “The Record” explores the culture of vinyl records through 50 years of contemporary art and features work by 41 artists from around the world who use vinyl records as their subject or medium.
Superchunk frontman Mac McCaughan wrote an essay for “The Record” catalogue and co-wrote a song with Harrison Haynes of Les Savy Fav for a 12-inch record project by Xaviera Simmons for the exhibition. Visit the Nasher website for more information about “The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl.”
The concert will begin at 8:30 and there is no opening band. Tickets are $12 for adults, $6 for Nasher Museum Members and $5 for Duke students with I.D. Tickets can be purchased at the Duke University Box Office (104 Bryan University Center, Durham, NC) and at www.tickets.duke.edu beginning Tuesday, Aug. 3.
Majesty Shredding is available for pre-order now on CD and LP in the Merge store, and see Superchunk on tour this fall!
Superchunk visited the now-famous round room at The Onion AV Club headquarters in Chicago to deliver their take on The Cure’s “In Between Days.” The AV Club crew declares this cover “Awesome.” and we agree!
Watch the video at The AV Club “Undercover.”
Superchunk’s new album Majesty Shredding is available for pre-order on CD and LP now in the Merge store, and you can download the first single “Digging for Something” as a free preview! Also, tickets are on sale now for Superchunk’s fall tour dates!
Today, Superchunk’s “Digging for Something” b/w “February Punk” 7-inch, hand-numbered on multi-colored vinyl and limited to 1000 with cover art by Harrison Haynes of Les Savy Fav is available in stores. “Digging for Something” features backing vocals by John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats. The B-side, “February Punk,” is a non-album track from the same sessions with Scott Solter that gave us Majesty Shredding.
The hand-numbered “Digging for Something” 7-inch is available only in stores and directly from the band on tour this fall. Download a free MP3 of “Digging for Something” now.
You can also pre-order Majesty Shredding on CD and LP now in the Merge store, too!
Superchunk has announced the support bands for many of their shows (including Merge bands Let’s Wrestle, Telekinesis, Versus, and Teenage Fanclub) as well as west coast dates. Get your tickets now!
Superchunk on tour (new dates in bold):
Jul 24 Omaha, NE – MAHA Music Festival
Sep 17 Washington, DC – 9:30 Club w/ Let’s Wrestle & Tommy Keene
Sep 18 New York, NY – The Bowery Ballroom w/ Let’s Wrestle
Sep 19 Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
Sep 20 New York, NY – Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Sep 21 Boston, MA – Royale w/ Versus
Sep 22 Philadelphia, PA – Trocadero w/ Versus & Jenny and Johnny
Oct 02 Las Vegas, NV – Matador 21 (SOLD OUT)
Oct 13 Vancouver, BC – Venue Nightclub w/ Telekinesis
Oct 14 Seattle, WA – The Showbox w/ Telekinesis & Teenage Fanclub
Oct 15 Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom w/ Telekinesis & Teenage Fanclub
Oct 17 San Francisco, CA – Treasure Island Music Festival
Oct 19 Los Angeles, CA – The Music Box at Fonda w/ Telekinesis & The Vaselines
Merge Records will reissue Superchunk’s No Pocky for Kitty and On the Mouth on CD, LP and digital download on August 17. Remastered by Jason Ward at Chicago Mastering Company from the original 1/2″ reels, both albums will be available for the first time on 180 gram vinyl (with download coupon), and on CD newly packaged in LP-style cardboard sleeves.
No Pocky for Kitty and On the Mouth are available for full album streaming and pre-order on CD and LP in the Merge store, and download a free MP3 of the newly remastered “Skip Steps 1 & 3” now.
Author Dan Kennedy shared his thoughts on these releases:
No Pocky for Kitty and On the Mouth were originally released about one thousand American Idols ago. There was a time when the most careerist thing a band did was buy their own PA or van, and during that time, Mac McCaughan, Jim Wilbur, Laura Ballance, and Jon Wurster made music that you bought in a store and met like a friend—music that felt like someone a few towns or states over had finally heard how you were feeling. Back then, you bought something like On the Mouth or No Pocky for Kitty and the songs smelled like a van with a gas leak. They sounded like a thousand things you had been saying in your sleep before waking up alone or with friends and almost always realizing you were out of coffee.
Superchunk’s bio during the time these two albums were made could have read: the band was coming together, breaking up, touring, staying home, getting big, sleeping on planes, staying small, staying awake behind the wheel, trying for a taste of what they didn’t get, and learning they loved what they already had. You can hear every note of that.
No Pocky for Kitty track listing:
1. Skip Steps 1 & 3
2. Seed Toss
3. Cast Iron
4. Tower
5. Punch Me Harder
6. Sprung A Leak
7. 30 Xtra
8. Tie A Rope To The Back Of The Bus
9. Press
10. Sidewalk
11. Creek
12. Throwing Things
On the Mouth track listing:
1. Precision Auto
2. From the Curve
3. For Tension
4. Mower
5. Package Thief
6. Swallow That
7. I Guess I Remembered It Wrong
8. New Low
9. Untied
10. The Question is How Fast
11. Trash Heap
12. Flawless
13. The Only Piece That You Get
On July 13, Superchunk will release the “Digging for Something” b/w “February Punk” 7-inch, hand-numbered on multi-colored vinyl and limited to 1000 with cover art by Harrison Haynes of Les Savy Fav. “Digging for Something” features backing vocals by John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats. The b-side, “February Punk” is a non-album track from the same sessions with Scott Solter that gave us Majesty Shredding.
The “Digging for Something” b/w “February Punk” 7-inch will be available July 13 in your local record store and directly from the band on tour this fall. Listen to a stream of “Digging for Something” now!
Superchunk will begin their touring in support of Majesty Shredding (in stores September 14) this weekend at the Westword Festival in Denver and the Taste of Randolph festival in Chicago. They announced east coast tour dates a while back, but now we have brand new west coast dates!
Superchunk tour dates:
(new dates in bold)
6/19 Denver, CO – Westword Music Festival
6/20 Chicago, IL – Taste of Randolph Street Festival w/The Love Language
7/24 Omaha, NE – MAHA Music Festival
9/17 Washington, DC- 930 Club
9/18 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
9/19 Brooklyn, NY- Music Hall of Williamsburg
9/20 New York, NY – Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
9/21 Boston, MA- Royale
9/22 Philadelphia, PA- Trocadero
10/13 Vancouver, BC – Venue Nightclub
10/14 Seattle, WA – The Showbox
10/15 Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom
10/19 Los Angeles, CA – The Music Box at Fonda
On September 14, Superchunk will release Majesty Shredding on CD, LP and digital download. The band have announced summer festival dates and September east coast dates with west coast dates to be announced soon. Superchunk will also perform on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Monday, September 20, their first television appearance since 1994.
Having cleared the deck of odds and sods with last year’s Leaves in the Gutter EP, Superchunk frontman Mac McCaughan set about to write a batch of songs that would capture the spirit of the band’s live shows. From 1997’s Indoor Living through 2001’s Here’s to Shutting Up, Superchunk had written most of their records together, building their songs through collaborative writing and rehearsal. But, in an effort not to overthink their new material (and because drummer Jon Wurster lives a couple hundred miles away from the rest of the band), Superchunk approached Majesty Shredding the same way they approached their early records: McCaughan provided skeletal demos to his bandmates, who in turn fleshed out the songs during a brief period of rehearsal and recording.
This sense of purpose is enhanced by the presence of Scott Solter, an engineer and producer (The Mountain Goats, John Vanderslice, St. Vincent) known for coaxing exceptional performances out of the artists he works with. Majesty Shredding is a powerful document of Superchunk as a band, augmented as needed with well-placed harmonies, keyboards, and guitar overdubs (and some backing vocals courtesy of the Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle).
Since releasing their first 7-inch in 1989, Superchunk has run the gamut of milestone albums: early punk rock stompers, polished mid-career masterpieces, and lush, adventurous curveballs. Conventional wisdom holds that a band two decades into its career can only rehash or reinvent, but with Majesty Shredding, Superchunk has done something entirely different. Neither a return nor a departure, Majesty Shredding telescopes two decades into 41 indelible, action-packed minutes. It is the sound of youthful exuberance fine-tuned with grown-up confidence. And it may very well be Superchunk’s best record yet.
Superchunk can now be found on twitter, too!
Track Listing:
1. Digging for Something
2. My Gap Feels Weird
3. Rosemarie
4. Crossed Wires
5. Slow Drip
6. Fractures in Plaster
7. Learned to Surf
8. Winter Games
9. Rope Light
10. Hot Tubes
11. Everything at Once
Superchunk tour dates:
6/19 Denver, CO – Westword Music Festival
6/20 Chicago, IL – Taste of Randolph Street Festival w/The Love Language
7/24 Omaha, NE – MAHA Music Festival
9/17 Washington, DC- 930 Club
9/18 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
9/19 Brooklyn, NY- Music Hall of Williamsburg
9/20 New York, NY – Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
9/21 Boston, MA- Royale
9/22 Philadelphia, PA- Trocadero
Superchunk have festival dates planned this summer and now east coast dates in September!
Details are emerging about their long-anticipated new album, which now has a title: Majesty Shredding! Stereogum caught up with Jon Wurster for a sneak peek behind the scenes of the recording of Majesty Shredding, and you can definitely expect to hear the new songs live this summer!
Get your tickets early, and watch the video below of Superchunk live at XX Merge to get you pumped up!
Superchunk tour dates:
5/21 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
5/27 Barcelona, ES – Primavera Sound Festival w/Pavement and The Fall
6/19 Denver, CO – Westword Music Festival
6/20 Chicago, IL – Taste of Randolph Street Festival w/The Love Language
7/24 Omaha, NE – MAHA Music Festival
9/17 Washington, DC- 930 Club
9/18 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
9/19 Brooklyn, NY- Music Hall of Williamsburg
9/21 Boston, MA- Royale
9/22 Philadelphia, PA- Trocadero
| September | ||
| 02 | Bologna | Arena Parco Nord |
| 10 | Mexico City | Palacio de los Deportes |
| 22 | St. Paul, MN | Roy Wilkins Auditorium |
| 23 | Winnipeg, MB | MTS Centre |
| 25 | Saskatoon | Credit Union Centre |
| [see all] | ||
| September | ||
| 02 | Cambridge, MA | Middle East |
| 03 | Philadelphia, PA | Johnny Brenda's |
| 04 | Hoboken, NJ | Maxwell's |
| September | ||
| 07 | Charlottesville, VA | The Southern |
| 08 | Asheville, NC | The Grey Eagle |
| 09 | Columbia, SC | Columbia Museum of Art |
| 10 | Raleigh, NC | Hopscotch Music Festival |
| 11 | Charlotte, NC | Evening Muse |
| [see all] | ||
| September | ||
| 14 | Guelph, ON | Ebar |
| 15 | Ottawa, ON | Babylon |
| 16 | Montreal, QC | Le National |
| 17 | Toronto, ON | The Drake |
| 17 | Toronto, ON | Phoenix Theatre |
| [see all] | ||
| September | ||
| 28 | New York, NY | Bowery Ballroom |
| 29 | Hoboken, NJ | Maxwell's |
| 30 | Chicago, IL | Bottom Lounge |
| October | ||
| 02 | Lawrence, KS | Granada Theater - SCION Festival |
| 04 | San Francisco, CA | The Independent |
| [see all] | ||
| September | ||
| 06 | Seattle, WA | Bumbershoot |
| 07 | Portland, OR | Doug Fir |
| 09 | Oakland, CA | New Parish |
| 10 | San Francisco, CA | Independent |
| 11 | Los Angeles, CA | Echoplex |
| [see all] | ||
| September | ||
| 05 | Monticello, NY | All Tomorrow's Parties |
| 09 | Washington, DC | Rock n' Roll Hotel |
| 10 | Raleigh, NC | Hopscotch Festival |
| 11 | Atlanta, GA | The Drunken Unicorn |
| 12 | Charlotte, NC | Amos Southend |
| [see all] | ||
| November | ||
| 11 | Berlin | Admiralspalast - 20 Years of City Slang |
| 22 | Katowice | Ars Cameralis Festival |
| 24 | Zagreb | Kino SC |
| 25 | Munich | Amerikahaus |
| 27 | Copenhagen | DR Concert House |
| [see all] | ||
| September | ||
| 04 | Los Angeles, CA | FYF Fest |
| 05 | Santa Barbara, CA | Club Mercy Presents |
| 06 | San Francisco, CA | Great American Music Hall |
| 08 | Seattle, WA | Neumo's |
| 09 | Vancouver, BC | Rickshaw Theatre |
| [see all] | ||
| September | ||
| 03 | Atlanta, GA | The Earl |
| 03 | Atlanta, GA | Criminal Records |
| 04 | Charlotte, NC | Visulite Theatre |
| 09 | Winston Salem, NC | Earshot Records |
| 09 | Winston Salem, NC | Krankies |
| [see all] | ||
| September | ||
| 28 | Pioneertown, CA | Pappy & Harriets |
| 30 | Santa Barbara, CA | Soho in SB |
| October | ||
| 01 | Big Sur, CA | Fernwood |
| 02 | San Francisco, CA | Hardly Strictly Bluegrass |
| November | ||
| 05 | Baton Rouge, LA | Spanish Moon |
| 06 | Houston, TX | Fitzgerald's Downstairs |
| 07 | Austin, TX | Fun Fun Fun Fest at Waterloo |
| September | ||
| 24 | Montreal, QC | Le National |
| 25 | Boston, MA | Royale |
| 27 | New York, NY | Bowery Ballroom |
| 28 | New York, NY | Bowery Ballroom |
| October | ||
| 01 | Philadelphia, PA | Trocadero Theatre |
| [see all] | ||
| September | ||
| 10 | Raleigh, NC | Hopscotch Festival |
| October | ||
| 09 | Carrboro, NC | Carrboro ArtsCenter |
| September | ||
| 05 | Los Angeles, CA | Paramount Studios |
| October | ||
| 17 | San Francisco, CA | Treasure Island |
| 22 | Portland, OR | Schnitzer Hall |
| 23 | Seattle, WA | City Arts Music Festival - 5th Avenue Theatre |
| 24 | Vancouver, BC | The Orpheum |
| September | ||
| 11 | Harrisburg, PA | The Forum |
| 12 | Clark, NJ | Oak Ridge Park |
| 13 | Brooklyn, NY | Music Hall of Williamsburg |
| 30 | Los Angeles, CA | Hollywood Palladium |
| October | ||
| 01 | San Diego, CA | Soma |
| [see all] | ||
| September | ||
| 16 | Durham, NC | The Nasher Museum of Art |
| 17 | Washington | 9:30 Club |
| 18 | New York, NY | Bowery Ballroom |
| 19 | Brooklyn, NY | Music Hall of Williamsburg |
| 21 | Boston, MA | Royale |
| [see all] | ||
| September | ||
| 22 | Toronto, ON | The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern |
| 23 | Toronto, ON | The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern |
| 24 | Montreal, QC | Le National |
| 25 | Boston, MA | Royale |
| 27 | New York, NY | Bowery Ballroom |
| [see all] | ||
| September | ||
| 02 | Chicago, IL | Lincoln Hall |
| 03 | Detroit, MI | Magic Stick |
| 04 | Toronto, ON | El Mocambo |
| 06 | Montreal, QC | Casa Del Popolo |
| 07 | Cambridge, MA | TT The Bear's |
| [see all] | ||
| September | ||
| 21 | Boston, MA | Royale |
| 22 | Philadelphia, PA | Trocadero Theatre |
| September | ||
| 02 | Cambridge, MA | Middle East |
| 03 | Philadelphia, PA | Johnny Brenda's |
| 04 | Hoboken, NJ | Maxwell's |
| October | ||
| 04 | Lawrence, KS | Bottleneck |
| 05 | Columbia, MO | The Blue Note |
| [see all] | ||
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