Superchunk
Come Pick Me Up
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Superchunk
Come Pick Me Up
Merge, 1999
RiYL: Seam, Versus, Pavement, The Replacements, Husker Du |
The band's maturity has manifested itself in a myriad of ways, from the lower-key strains of 1993's Foolish, to frontman Mac McCaughan's increasingly self-aware lyrics (the best, from 1997's Indoor Living and the song "Watery Hands" : "we both know that I've got bad knees"). Some would argue that Superchunk painted itself into an artistic corner long ago (nobody has ever denied that the band's songs all sound alike), but as Indoor Living and its successor Come Pick Me Up demonstrate, this band still has plenty left to say, and plenty of energetic and creative ways to say it.
At least part of the credit has to go to producer and ex-Gastr Del Sol collaborator Jim O'Rourke, perhaps the least likely candidate to ever twiddle knobs on a Superchunk album. He has managed to inject any number of new ideas into the mix without revoking the band's Extra Catchy punk/pop charge cards. Strings? Check. A horn section? Of course, and staffed by Ken Vandermark and Shellac's Bob Weston, no less. A Beach Boys-style sing-a-long ("Tiny Bombs")? Why not! Lots of acoustic guitar? Absolutely.
But lest listeners fear hearing McCaughan strum a lone axe while weird noises flutter away in the background Gastr-style, a nice blaring of "Good Dreams" will set the ears at ease. This breakneck rocker sports one of Mac's catchiest melodies since "Hyper Enough," as he slips into falsetto for the high-voltage chorus: "hold me all night / give me good dreams."
Lyrically, McCaughan treads familiar subjects (love, growing up) with sincerity. And of the more traditionally Superchunk-ed songs, there are a number of standouts. "Pulled Muscle" scales a wall of power chords, makes good on an uncharacteristically restrained chorus and releases some semblance of tension during a brief bridge. The 128-second "Low Branches" offers a nifty, woozy verse and a searing guitar solo, while the old-school "June Showers," an inferred attack against a musical sell-out, unearths a delightful hook-filled, minor-key chorus.
Especially on first listen, Come Pick Me Up comes off a lot more mellow than Indoor Living. But the band is actually tighter here than it has ever been, and steady gems like "Cursed Mirror" and the rumbling "1000 Pounds" benefit greatly from a more pop-oriented approach, somewhat in the vein of the current sounds purveyed by like-minded bands Seam and Versus.
This is where O'Rourke comes in, applying some effective twists such as fuzzing out Laura Ballance's bass and making said instrument the first thing heard on a number of songs. He generates a clear, warm feel without draining off the energy so crucial to Superchunk's music. Afficionados might quibble with the horn accompaniment tacked onto the end of the pretty "Pink Clouds" (complete with a saxophone solo!!), but somehow it works. Less useful are the strings on first single "Hello Hawk," but in general the additional instrumentation doesn't intrude to the point of annoyance.
A couple of the songs are too standard-issue Superchunk to pass muster, particularly "Hello Hawk" and the pleasant but redundant "Honey Bee." But overall Come Pick Me Up serves just the right mix of old thrills and new ideas, and in doing so, reaffirms Superchunk's rightful standing amid the most exceptional rock bands of the 1990s. Cheers, indeed.
JONATHAN COHEN | Jonathan Cohen co-created Nude As The News with his Indiana University mates Troy Carpenter and Ben French. When not traversing the globe for business and pleasure, he holds down the fort as a senior editor for Billboard in New York. Stop him and he just may ask, "what for lunch?"