Superchunk
Leaves in the Gutter
Rating: 3.5
Label: Merge
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Ever since Superchunk put the final touches on their formula for indie rock power chord supremacy around 1995, very little has changed in the group philosophically. Mac McCaughan still chimes in with his focused hollers, Jim Wilbur’s guitar adds about seven tons of weight to hoist on each song’s shoulders, Laura Ballance’s bass keeps the train from derailing and almost serves as a third guitar and Jon Wurster continues to proves his mettle as one of the premier drummers in the United States, pounding the low toms at high speeds while about half a dozen crash cymbals almost become a fifth member of the band. A lot of heavy lifting to be sure, but the band is so confident in its calculations that it almost never collapses. The only aspects that change from year to year are the specific riffs the songs are built on and the songs’ subject matter. As ugly and unimaginative as that sounds on paper, it’s far from any of those things.
Perpetually the indie rock community’s cool older brother, Superchunk has been hard to pin down outside of the occasional gig in North Carolina in recent years. Those of us who still sleep with copies of the four track The Laughter Guns under our beds recognize that that band puts an almost unnatural amount of thought into each effort. Every release, whether it’s one song on a compilation, an EP, or a proper LP, are of equal importance. Leaves in the Gutter doesn’t feel like a cast-off collection of lesser songs in this context, just business as usual.
And damn, it’s good to hear Superchunk again. “Learn to Surf’” comes out of the floodgates boiling with moxie; it’s a song worth playing at least once daily for about a month. Including the acoustic outtake of it fleshes out its skeleton quite nicely. When the full band version is revisited, it wraps around your ears twice as tightly and becomes catchy in the best possible way. “Learn to Surf” also breaks the Beach Boys law that a song about surfing has to simulate surfing by the airy way it sways and bobs. Wilbur and Wurster seem more intent to drive their brightly lit song on a reckless motorboat while spitting sparks and exhaust fumes.
Curiously, “Misfits and Mistakes” builds off a similar riff to Papa Roach’s “Last Resort.” But besides that bit of familiarity you might have also heard it on the Aqua Teen Hunger Force soundtrack with Meatwad singing on an alternate take as part of a hidden track. On this EP it’s front and center, with McCaughan screaming narrow observations so intently. Thematically it even has a pretty cool message about embracing one’s outcast status and finding humor in it. Rounding out the lineup is “Knock Knock Knock” and “Screw It Up,” which are equally circular in composition to the rest of the record. “Knock Knock Knock” is the better of the two at building to a payoff once Superchunk finishes chasing its own tail for so long.
Merge Records is celebrating its 20th anniversary with all the accouterments and pomp of being one of the few indie labels that are not only staying in the game but finding new ways to prosper each year. In the midst of their grand celebration co-founders McCaughan and Ballance know in their hearts that before Spoon, Arcade Fire and Neutral Milk Hotel sauntered onto the scene that Merge was the house that Superchunk built. As such they’ve given us something equal to the celebration. Leaves in the Gutter manages to be fun without dumbing down its instrumentation. Though it’s not the best the band has to offer, it’s still a nice birthday gift.
by Neal Fersko
