Superchunk - Here's to Shutting Up
(Merge)
What is there left to say about a band that is already a couple years into their second decade of making music together? Well, one could say that the band has run its course. It's been three albums since lead singer Mac McCaughan asked if he and his band were still "Hyper Enough" at their old, decrepit age and concluded even with their age, they were "hyper enough as it is." And that was three albums ago. Now, what would McCaughan say? Likely that it got too tiring to be hyper, but that doesn't mean there's not still music to be made.
Here's to Shutting Up find McCaughan and company taking that next step towards mellowing out. Taking the tricks of pop orchestration that Jim O'Rourke added to their last album, Come Pick Me Up, Superchunk readily adapt them to their new even slower, mellower tempo, providing a soft, lush bed of sounds to embed their pop hooks instead of the rough and ragged they (and we, the audience) grew up on.
Don't get me wrong, several songs still rock. The standout track on the album, "Art Class (Song for Yayoi Kusama)," is as upbeat and bouncy as ever, injecting a razor sharp Blues guitar riff into a solid, steady rhythm. McCaughan sings lyrics so bitter, the song sounds as if it could be a Shellac cover, ridiculing art students for studying something that cannot really be studied. The chorus of "Out on the Wing" is also memorable, filling out the sparse verse sections to sound almost joyful, thinking of a place where taste in music isn't dependent on style... style that's been lost over the years.
Many of the slower songs are very good as well. The album starts with "Late-Century Dream," which uses the organ very well, going through a slow progression to add background but then switching to a funky melody during the chorus. While most first songs on Superchunk albums are bursting at the seams with energy, "Late-Century Dream" sets the mood for the album, smoothing it out, letting the listener know the hooks will be less full of zest and force this time around. "Florida's on Fire" (unfortunately not about last year's Constitutional crisis in that state) also is able to have a memorable chorus while still using mellow, mature orchestration. A string section is combined with trademark Superchunk guitar as McCaughan sings "Fi-yahr" as high as he can.
Other slow songs don't work as well. "Act Surprised" has a somber, depressing tone and the lyrics include the unforgivable lyric "I'm a lover not a fighter." An organ part punctuates the chorus, but overall this song is too murky to be enjoyable. "Phone Sex" also struggles--a failed experiment in country twang that has plenty of twang but hardly any country. It's hard to skip through a song on a Superchunk album, but both of these are quite skippable.
In the end, Superchunk are still a successful band. Their pop songs are, as always, enjoyable and filled with hooks, despite any change in style. The songs on Here's to Shutting Up are strong, however, ultimately, this collection of songs is forgettable when compared to Superchunk's best works. Nothing here is bad, and a few songs are great; however, overall, only one or two other albums by the band are not even better.
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