***Misfits & Mistakes: Singles, B-sides & Strays 2007–2023 is Superchunk’s fourth singles compilation, a massive, 4-LP (or 2-CD) collection covering their triumphant return from hiatus. The amount of ground covered within its gorgeous packaging is staggering: 50 songs, 16 of which are on physical media for the first time, sourced from out-of-print releases, digital singles, compilations, and more—a vital piece of the Superchunk canon. Featuring extensive liner notes by Mac McCaughan (with additional notes from Laura Ballance), Misfits & Mistakes tells the story of each release, from why they chose to cover songs by The Misfits, The Cure, Destiny’s Child, and Bananarama, to working with collaborators like Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee), Jane Wiedlin (The Go-Go’s), Eleanor Friedberger, Damian Abraham (Fucked Up), Norman Blake and Raymond McGinley (Teenage Fanclub), and more!
2XCD $17.25
10/27/2023
4XLP $74.50
10/27/2023
***"Like every record Superchunk has made over the last thirty-some years, Wild Loneliness is unskippably excellent and infectious. It’s a blend of stripped-down and lush, electric and acoustic, highs and lows, and I love it all. On Wild Loneliness I hear echoes of Come Pick Me Up, Here’s to Shutting Up, and Majesty Shredding. After the (ahem, completely justifiable) anger of What a Time to Be Alive, this new record is less about what we’ve lost in these harrowing times and more about what we have to be thankful for. (I know something about gratitude. I’ve been a huge Superchunk fan since the 1990s, around the same time I first found my way to poetry, so the fact that I’m writing these words feels like a minor miracle.) On Wild Loneliness, it feels like the band is refocusing on possibility, and possibility is built into the songs themselves, in the sweet surprises tucked inside them. I say all the time that what makes a good poem—the “secret ingredient”—is surprise. Perhaps the same is true of songs. Like when the sax comes in on the title track, played by Wye Oak’s Andy Stack, adding a completely new texture to the song. Or when Owen Pallett’s strings come in on “This Night.” But my favorite surprise on Wild Loneliness is when the harmonies of Norman Blake and Raymond McGinley of Teenage Fanclub kick in on “Endless Summer.” It’s as perfect a pop song as you’ll ever hear—sweet, bright, flat-out gorgeous—and yet it...
LP $20.50
02/25/2022
CD $13.25
02/25/2022
***An expanded 20th anniversary reissue of the eighth studio recording from the beloved Chapel Hill indie-rock band. Includes the original ten songs—that give it to you again in that infectious, chunk kinda way you've always loved, yet still have the guts to push outward and experiment with their signature sound—plus a bonus thirteen-song CD of acoustic demos.
LP+CD $20.95
10/22/2021
2XCD $13.75
10/22/2021
***From MAC MCCAUGHAN: "Our original idea for an all-acoustic album was for it to be a selection of songs from all our albums, played in the style of an acoustic performance in a record store or a radio station, which we have done quite a bit of over the years (and documented on the first of our Clambake series in 2001). But with 2019 being the 25th anniversary of the Foolish album, it seemed weirder and more interesting to record an acoustic version of one whole album. I didn’t want this to sound like 'acoustic demos recorded 25 years after the fact' or a band trying to 'rock out' except on acoustic guitars, though to be fair we do some rocking out. Once we got into the process of learning how to play the songs on acoustic guitars—some of which we had never performed at all—it made sense to make this record its own thing altogether... The songs themselves, extracted from the drama of the moment and what people wanted to write about then, are more applicable to Real Life than I thought they would be. Without the embarrassing angst of the 25-year-old, they are just songs about transitions, holding grudges or trying not to, letting go of things that aren’t healthy, moving through difficult situations and relationships and trying to be 'normal' in the course of all that, even though there’s no such thing. We are lucky to have ALLISON CRUTCHFIELD, MATT DOUGLAS, PETER HOLSAPPLE, OWEN PALLETT and JENN...
LP $18.85
11/01/2019
***BACK IN STOCK!!! Received an 8.1 rating from Pitchfork. After the shocking, and for many, demoralizing result of the 2016 election, “I didn’t buy the silver lining some were promoting that ‘well, at least art and music will be great now!’,” says SUPERCHUNK co-founder and frontman MAC MCCAUGHAN. “Obviously, any sane person would gladly trade four to eight years of terrible music for not having our country dismantled to satisfy the whims of a vengeful child and his enablers.” That said, good music and art still have a lot to say, and the urgency of current events gave Mac, LAURA, JIM and JON, the momentum to make something new sooner than later. Enter What a Time to Be Alive, recorded and mixed by BEAU SORENSON. The songs on What a Time to Be Alive meet rage and anxiety head-on with the catharsis and exhilaration of loud punk fire and vulnerable pop energy. Like 2013’s I Hate Music, which focused on death, loss, and the role of music in an aging life, the new record brings spirit to the frontlines of pain—it’s as defiant as it is despairing, as much a call to arms as a throwing up of hands. The record features more guest backing vocalists than any previous Superchunk album, including SABRINA ELLIS (A GIANT DOG, SWEET SPIRIT), KATIE CRUTCHFIELD, (WAXAHATCHEE), STEPHIN MERRITT (MAGNETIC FIELDS), SKYLAR GUDASZ and DAVID BAZAN. CD in 4-panel digipaks. Indie Only LP version pressed on clear and pink swirled vinyl...
LP $16.50
02/16/2018
CD $13.50
02/16/2018
***CHECK STOCK!!! Received an 8.3 Best New Reissue rating from Pitchfork. "When I listen to our first album now, other than cringing at some clams and the vocals and the juvenile attitude of the whole thing… what was I angry about? You’ll have to ask 21-year old me because in my memory, we were having fun. I hear the accumulation of our influences, which I suppose is normal for a first album—weaving all the things you loved up to that point into your own first thing. The Buzzcocks, Hüsker Dü, Dinosaur Jr, and Sonic Youth are all right there and what we were listening to. Hearing this record recently, though, I was surprised at how 'southern' some of it sounds, and I think the influence of bands like Drivin’ n’ Cryin’ and of course R.E.M. is there under the fuzz. I remember thinking the solo 4-track demo of 'Slack Motherfucker' sounded like Tom Petty. I can’t find it now to prove it to you, but take my word for it. I was living in NYC finishing school when we made this record, so rehearsals and recording were all rushed. I’m surprised we knew this many songs well enough to record them. Twenty-seven years later, we still play at least three or four of these songs live occasionally (one of them all the time…), which says something good about a few of the songs, anyway! We got somuch better as a band, and as songwriters, that it’s hard...
LP $18.50
08/25/2017
CD $13.50
08/25/2017
***AVAILABLE AGAIN!!! SUPERCHUNK's 2003 singles and rarities compilation on vinyl for this first time. The original CD packaging has been expanded for this edition to showcase LAURA BALLANCE's original paintings, and features expanded conversations with MAC, JON, JIM and Laura about every track included—the ones they remember recording, anyway. The notes have been expanded to comprise the three additional songs from out-of-print compilations which have been added to this remastered reissue.
3XLP $34.25
04/22/2017
***BACK IN STOCK!!! SUPERCHUNK's Tossing Seeds (Singles 89-91) is available on vinyl after a long hiatus. Recorded at Duck Kee Studios and Chicago Recording Company, Tossing Seeds is a collection of rare and early Superchunk singles. The LP includes the anthemic “Slack Motherfucker,” a single that helped define the sound of North Carolina’s music scene in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Originally released in 1992 on Merge, this reissue is remastered from the original tapes, pressed to 180-gram vinyl, and includes a full album download code. The 2016 LP jacket, unlike previous pressings, includes images collected from the original singles that combined to make Tossing Seeds (Singles 89-91).
LP $22.50
08/26/2016
REISSUED!!! With a lot of SUPERCHUNK products, it’s easy to think there’s a simple message because the music is so direct. But on Indoor Living, typically unfussy guitar hooks and shout-sung tag lines that beg for an audience to croon along are just the overarching structure of a record that moons over details: “Marquee” drapes a lazy sonic arm over the seat, pulling you in for a story about egos twisting apart. “Martinis on the Roof ” puts a slightly manic, rueful smile on the loss of a friend, a search for that emotion that lurks in a mix of anger and nostalgia. Indoor Living is about domestication: The taming and training of human beings to inhabit each others’ lives, during which a certain amount of blood is spilled. But anyone can write a break-up record, anyone can color in a broken heart all black. It takes a more sophisticated eye to find the light and perfect moments that happen even when we wish they didn’t, and Indoor Living is a scrapbook of those moments. A request for mercy comes across like an in-joke in “Watery Hands.” “European Medicine” is a lively travelog that’s by turns amusingly fatalistic and achingly needy. Even “The Popular Music,” the record’s angriest slice of heartache, has a protagonist that can’t quite pull off a fully punk rock tantrum. Angst is easy, hope is hard. Thinking you’re going to die from a broken heart is easy, knowing you won’t is hard. Adulthood is about forsaking...
LP $19.95
02/25/2014
CD $14.75
02/24/2014
******If punk taught us anything, it’s that loud, aggressive music can provide the sweetest release. Shouting out can clear your psyche of problems ranging from a copy-shop co-worker who won’t do his part to the realization that you, along with all your friends and loved ones, are hopelessly impermanent. It’s a fantastic tonic for a wide spectrum of ailments, like aspirin. Where do you hurt? Sing this—you’ll feel better. SUPERCHUNK has offered up that sonic salve off and on for two decades, at various volumes. Like most great bands that started loud, they also explored the quiet, beginning the 1990s with a self-titled debut and ending them with Come Pick Me Up, a stately set that incorporated strings and horns. 2001 saw the even gentler Here’s to Shutting Up, but the rest of the aughts saw so little activity that the end seemed nigh. I Hate Music is Majesty’s dark twin. It’s similarly aggressive—often moreso—and every bit as energetic. It reflects the joys of a life spent immersed in music (“Me & You & Jackie Mittoo,” “Trees of Barcelona”), but there’s a dark undercurrent as well. That title isn’t tongue-in-cheek, but it’s really more a question than a statement: When you’re 20, lazy co-workers and romantic missteps number among your biggest worries; two decades later, life’s bigger questions knock louder and louder, demanding answers. “Low F” finds Superchunk in classic mode: the rhythm section drops out for big choruses, and a guitar solo brings pure sunshine. “Trees of Barcelona” is...
LP $16.35
08/20/2013
CD $13.50
08/20/2013
***The latest in Merge’s series of SUPERCHUNK reissues. Originally recorded with BRIAN PAULSON (Wilco, Slint), Foolish is the fourth album by Superchunk (and first full length on Merge), and includes the singles “The First Part” and “Driveway to Driveway.” Allmusic.com calls Foolish “a dark masterpiece that contrasts the band’s signature high-energy power punk attack...with a far more somber, orchestrated approach.” Now remastered by JASON WARD of Chicago Mastering Company from the original 1/2” reels, Foolish is available for the first time on 180-gram vinyl with coupon for full album download. Both CD and LP reissues include an essay by Superchunk’s own JON WURSTER. In addition, both CD and LP reissues include downloadable bonus tracks previously unavailable. (STREET DATE - 9/13/2011)
LP $22.95
09/13/2011
CD $12.00
09/13/2011
***RECORD STORE DAY REISSUE!!! Following the recent Superchunk reissues of No Pocky for Kitty and On the Mouth, Merge Records brings Here’s Where the Strings Come In back to print on CD and 180 gram vinyl for Record Store Day 2011! Remastered by JASON WARD at Chicago Mastering Company from the original 1/2″ reels, Here’s Where the Strings Come In will be available for the first time on 180-gram vinyl and on CD newly packaged in LP-style cardboard sleeves. The LP art was reprinted at the original printing plant, Stoughton Printing Co., from the 1995 release. Both formats include a download with bonus tracks from the vaults. (STREET DATE - 4/16/2011)
LP $22.50
04/12/2011
***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. (STREET DATE - 9/14/2010)
LP $17.25
09/14/2010
CD $13.75
09/14/2010
***A reissue of the classic, sophomore album that many fans and critics have hailed as the greatest moment in their ten-year career. Includes the faves "Skip Steps 1 & 3," "Tie A Rope To The Back Of The Bus," and "Throwing Things." Produced by STEVE ALBINI and remastered by JASON WARD. (STREET DATE - 8/17/2010)
LP $21.35
08/17/2010
CD $12.25
08/17/2010
***Often referred to as the "difficult third album," the only thing difficult about it has been trying to find a copy as of late. Now reissued in all of its dynamic, melodic glory. Produced by JOHN REIS of ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT, it marks the beginning of the band's shift in musical direction away from their earlier "punk brashness," and toward a more complex sound. Remastered by JASON WARD. (STREET DATE - 8/17/2010)
LP $21.35
08/17/2010
CD $12.25
08/17/2010
***By your satanic majesties special request, may we present the latest EP from the heretofore unknown quartet from Chapel Hill, Superchunk? Recorded by magician's apprentice Jim O'Rourke (who's he?) in a little town going by the name of Chicago. "Hello Hawk" is the first single from an upcoming album (number nine,number nine,number nine,number nine.....),due in August. Count on high anticipation for any & all Superchunk releases from a large & devoted fan base.
CD $7.35
07/13/1999
CD comes from Touch and Go, merge deals 7"
CD $4.50
08/14/1997