Superchunk
“Digging for Something” b/w “February Punk” 7”
Merge
For years Superchunk albums were events in my life. Initially, I didn’t know what to do with the self-titled record when it came out. I was in college, still thinking that pop and punk were mutually exclusive propositions. But week after week we kept playing that record until we gave up trying to decode it and just enjoyed it. Nine years later Come Pick Me Up came out. Mellower, restrained at times but still bursting with great song ideas. I was married by then and I’d finally figured out what to do with my life. On more than one occasion I thought, I’m going to grow old with this band, confident that they wouldn't lapse into Jefferson Starship or Who-like self-parody.
I can’t explain why I’d lost interest by the time Here’s to Shutting Up rolled out two years later. It took me awhile to buy a copy and when the mood to hear Superchunk struck that wasn’t the album I reached for. It was like they’d lost their way in trying to figure out how to age and continue changing as a band.
Then, last summer, the Leaves in the Gutter EP. “We’re in our forties. We’re kicking ass with songs that are clever and catchy but we’re not trying to recapture old glories.” They’d never be so lame as to pen such lyrics—leave that to me—but that’s the message I got from those songs. Everything I loved about Superchunk was there with new twists and turns along the way.
The streak continues with this excellent single. “Digging for Something” sounds like the band’s late '90s output. A big rock song with a chorus that catches the first time. The flipside, “February Punks,” is just as catchy but it burns faster. For all I know it’s an outtake from No Pocky for Kitty or On the Mouth.
“Familiar yet different” is what I’m saying and that’s a contradiction. Guess I’m back to trying to figure out Superchunk records. Cool.
— Mike Faloon
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