Source: Amazon
Superchunk’s self-titled debut album was a pretty big deal. Superchunk is one of the main bands who popularized the Chapel Hill, North Carolina music scene, and releasing a full-length album was exciting for their local fans. Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan, the band’s bassist and lead guitarist/vocalist/songwriter had started Merge Records, their independent label, the year before the album’s release. The original plan for the label was to release their own seven-inch singles and ones of other local bands. At this point, Superchunk as a band was still very new, which is clear when listening to the album. With ten songs and a run time of 33 minutes, this album is definitely not their best.
Superchunk was recorded at Raleigh, North Carolina’s Duck Kee Studios in January of 1990 and was released later in the year by Matador Records. In 1990, Merge Records was not yet releasing full-length albums, so the band had a deal with Matador Records that they could release their full-lengths but they would still release singles on Merge. Since then, Merge has expanded greatly, becoming the home for many popular indie bands such as Arcade Fire, Neutral Milk Hotel, and The Magnetic Fields. For this album, the band’s lineup consisted of Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance (who are the founding members), Chuck Garrison, their drummer on the first two albums, and Jack McCook, their second guitarist who only played on this album before leaving out of disinterest.
Although their debut has some stand-out songs like “Sick to Move” and “Slack Mother****er” (which is still played as a closer at most shows on tour), the album is rough in both the sound quality and the instrumental and vocal abilities of the band. The songs sound dissonant, with distorted guitar and messy bass. However, it’s important to note that since it is their debut, most members, especially Laura on bass, were still very new to playing instruments or new to playing together as a band. When they did play, it was for a fun gig, not a studio album.
It is clear that Mac McCaughan is light years ahead in his talent on this album, especially on “Not Tomorrow.” McCook starts the song with guitar, and McCaughan comes in second, and it is crystal clear the difference in their talent. Jack’s playing is slow and meticulous, and Mac comes in playing like a rockstar, sounding effortless. Laura’s bass lines on this album are simple, the bare minimum, definitely because she is still learning how to play. For a beginner bass player, this album is a dream, but it is not joyful for the average listener. Her bass riff throughout “Not Tomorrow” – but especially from 2:07 on – is clunky and unfortunately, very loud in the sound mix. In an article where Laura Ballance ranked Superchunk’s albums, she said about this album (which she ranked last) that “[t]here are so many mistakes and flubs and weird-sounding things going on that we wouldn’t keep on a record now.” The songs are all fast-paced and kind of boring.
On Superchunk, it seems like McCaughan is writing anything, with meaningless lyrics to fill in overtop of the band’s playing. His voice is also less mature here, with him mostly yelling as opposed to the structured sound and occasional falsetto he uses on future albums. There is really no difference in most of the songs; it is hard to tell which is which when listening to the album. With a ratio of two good songs to ten mediocre ones, this album ranks last on the listening list.
After listening, this album would be evaluated at two out of five. Only two songs off the album are ones that the band still plays, and the rest is quite forgettable. The band is inexperienced and rough here, making the album an unsatisfactory listen. Superchunk’s future albums are more complex, put-together, and thought out. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about this debut.