From PackageThf@aol.comSun Dec 24 20:39:04 1995 Date: Thu, 21 Dec 1995 14:35:46 -0500 From: PackageThf@aol.com Subject: BRAND NEW LOVE, pt. 2 okay, here's the rest of it.... +an editorial from havok@mail.utexas.edu: Hey- I noticed alot of people criticizing Guv'ner for being, among other things, "a Sonic Youth rip-off band". I was wondering if these "critics" have kick ass bands to speak of, or if they're just cheesy college kid record store employees who hang around Chunk shows waiting to meet the band and appear cool? I'm so tired of non-musicians criticizing bands. Unless you have an equal or better product to speak of, shut your mouth and marvel at those who do what you only dream of as you march off to class to learn nothing. We'll make the music and you just save your money you earn at the Wiz for Lotsapunklosers in the summer. I believe Bob Dylan once said....... "Don't criticize what you can't understand....." Sincerely- Water Wing + the CHAPEL HILL REVIEW (#1) from reh2@acpub.duke.edu: Just saw the last show of the Superchunk tour last night, Nov. 18th, at the Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill/ Carroborro N.C. It was my third time to see the Chunk, and probably the best time that I have seen them. Cornershop opened first, they were okay, kind of world music stuff. Seaweed played next, they were great! I heard them a couple of years ago but never really got into them, I would definitely recomend checking them out. Mac played keyboards on their last song. After Seaweed, I manuvered my way to the front of the crowd until I was a couple of people back from the stage. Superchunk took the stage and Jim started joking about how they were going to be breaking up and this was their last show. Laura told him to shut up. They opened with "Sunshine State" and proceded to play the following songs, (probably not in the right order) "Silver leaf and Snowey tears", "Punch Me Harder", "Seed Toss", "Iron On", "Yeah, It's beautiful here too", "The Question is how Fast", "Throwing Things", "On the Mouth", "the First Part", "Driveway to driveway", "Water wings", and a few others that I can't remember. During the encore, they started playing "Fishing" and before too long Mac striped off his guitar and ran offstage to get the guitarists from Seaweed. They got on stage and started playing and Mac started playing drums. Jon and Jim grabed microphones and started screaming and singing Henry Rollins style. It was so increadible. This went on for a long time and I think a lot of people, me included, were tempted to jump up on stage and start messing around with them, but alas no one did. Too bad, it would have been really cool. During this whole show I was right at Mac's feet holding on to an amp for dear life. It was probably the most intense show experience that I have had. I was luckily enough to catch the first show of the tour at the Cradle in Sept. It sounded like they really developed the new songs over the course of the tour. Damn my ears are still ringing. +more discussion from Indiette@aol.com: Well I suppose we're to send our responses to the fave album survey to you? Mine, for all who are curious, is _On the Mouth_. It is the perfect pop/punk record. A tad more sophisticated than _No Pocky for Kitty's_ sophomoric delights, but still louder and more pogo-friendly than the recent contemplative duo of _Foolish_ and _Strings_, _OTM_ is the album that made me fall in love with the Chunk, and it still rocks out every time I play it. The sheer consistency of it causes one to marvel...it's not that there are one or two shockingly out-of-the-galaxy tunes (if all of _Foolish_ was like "Without Blinking" and "In a Stage Whisper," then wow I'd be happy), but ALL great songs that sound good together... Onto topic 2: In my opinion, if _No Pocky_ had been released in 1994 (on 1994 major label co-op Matador), it would have sold at least a half of a million copies and made the Chunksters into MTV buzz clip stars. Thank God they became a little moodier over the years and this didn't happen! I can just imagine Tabitha Soren saying: "Riding the waves created by the Offspring...(gag!)" So what does everyone else think? Are we all pretty much glad that Superchunk has stayed at a workable level of popularity for the past 6 years, or do we all wish that the "Hyper Enough" vid was in heavy rotation? (DAVE's note - it seems to have made heavy rotation on 120 Minutes - does that count?) ---Thoughtfully submitted, Megan +Wowezowee@aol.com remembers CHUNK doing "animated airplanes over germany" at a show a pre-"strings" show and she was wondering if anyone else remembers other "Strings" songs done before the album's release. You can send replies for this to either me or her. +CHAPEL HILL REVIEW (#2) from CEBUDO@aol.com: ...songs included..."on the mouth" (introduced by jim as a song about having an affair with someone's mother)....and fishing (the very last song they played, they were joined by two guys from seaweed on guitar, mac played drums, and jim and jon sang. also of note- they quoted black flags "my war" before going back into fishings chorus). jim kept saying they were breaking up between songs ("thanks for coming, this is our last show ever, we're breaking up after tonight. haven't you heard about it on the internet?"). they played almost 2 hours, and it was definitely worth all the driving i had to do to see the show. +editorial on guv'nor #2 and Toronto review, from mmarti03@uoguelph.ca: I must say that those of you who think Guv'ner sucked do not know a lot about style or originality. They do not sound anything like Sonic Youth. They are much less boring and noisy (not that noise is all that bad.) If they sound like anyone, they sound like Polvo, but they don't really sound like Polvo. I went to see mac etc. at their Toronto show as well. I didn't keep track of the precise time each band played, but all in all the show was a bit too short. I was very excited too see Seaweed, and they were good (but not great). I was disappointed that they played songs mostly off their new album, which I don't have. I also realized that the singer is, well... a bum. He needed a shave, a bath, and he spent half the time spitting on the floor instead of singing. Superchunk ensued. I had never seen them before, so I was, you know, excited. I told my freinds beforehand that they would open with Why Do You Have To Put A Date On Everything, and sure enough, they did. I forget most of the rest of the set, but I know they played a lot off the new album, and not enough of On The Mouth. The other report of the Toronto show stated that somebody threw something at Jim. Well, they didn't exactly throw anything, they spit on him. The unfortunate part of the evening was that I never got to talk to any Superchunk members, although Mac landed on my face when he stage dove during Precision Auto. I also got to talk to the Guv'ner singer, but he seemed kinda weird. That's all. +editorial on another topic, from andrewti@umdl.umich.edu: As I was reading the last installments of the mailing list I noticed a disturbing trend. Specifically it is the reports on the shows that people sent reports on the various shows Superchunk has played. I have noticed hardly anybody complaining about the abundance of Frat guys and obnoxious morons who came to see Superchunk because they are popular on "alternative" radio. This can only lead to me to assume that this mailing list may be composed primarily of these people. I am writing this mail as a complaint of sorts, although there is obviously nothig you can do about this. However I feel it needs to be said and if you can put something to this affect in your next mailing, that would be cool. P.S. Why does everyone seem to like Seaweed and not Guv'ner? Seaweed as by far the worst band I've ever seen, and although Guv'ner sounded awful in Detroit, there musical skill was very apparent despite the awful acoustics and atmosphere. +MORE MORE MORE, this time from trip@eclipse.net: I listen to some chunk songs and I think I know what Mac is trying to talk about -- but I'm never sure. Maybe you could somehow poll people and see what they think certain songs are about -- for example - what is 'Swallow That' about? I think it is about drug-induced suicide, but that's just my crazy opinion. Take care.... (dave's note: i'm open to it, so please send your ideas and comments to me - packagethf@aol.com) +a question from sooner@pro-solution.com: Hey there - at the shows Superchunk's been selling some really cool coffee mugs with hyper enough printed on them. I really really really need one of these for an upcoming birthday gift - any way you can get in touch with ANYONE who would know if I could have one sent to me quickly? Thanks much - (dave's note: please send any replies directly to her, address listed above) +another Q, this one from JARERO@PANAM1.PANAM.EDU: On FOOLISH does anyone elses recording have a ringing telephone in the back ground of Why Do you Have to Put a Date on Everything (It about 10 seconds into the song)? And yet another question: Did everyone else's Here's Where the Strings Come In CD case break? Mine was made funny at the hinges and broke on the third listen, so I had to sand down the edges and plastic cement the thing back together. I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this. +info from jasongg@ix.netcom.com, regarding the december 1995 cmj new music monthly magazine: if you're unfamiliar with this magazine it's a magazine that is mostly reviews and comes with a 20-song sampler each month. superchunk appears on this month's sampler "hyper enough" (others of note on this one: the amps, lotion, radiohead, and yes... tracy chapman) you can find this magazine at big bookstores (barnes and noble) and newsstand/bookstore type places. you can also get a subscription 1-800-cmj-9997. ask for it for christmas, i did (about $40/12 month subscription or something). firstly, for the december issue thay had little bits scattered throughout asking musicians their current favorite things. these snippets were called "IN MY STOCKING - artists' gift picks"mac was one them. here's what mac is listening to this holiday season: >VARIOUS ARTISTS: Sam Cooke's SAR Records Story (ABCKO) >DIRTY THREE: Dirty Three (Touch And Go) >MILES DAVIS: Complete Live At The Plugged Nickel 1965 (CBS) >LAIKA: Silver Apples of the Moon (Too Pure-American) >TORTOISE: Rhythms, Resolutions, & Clusters (Thrill Jockey) an interesting list. I like Laika, they are similar to Mac's organ doodlings for Portastatic, namely the last song on "...Sinking Ship". I've heard a lot about Dirty Three, any opinions out there? And finally they reviewed "Strings" - here goes: Superchunk is the Edwin Moses of alternative rock - just as Moses has won almost every hurdles competition he's ever run (13 strides, jump, 13 strides, jump, etc), Merge's house band is absolutely dependable, absolutely consistent, and the undisputed leader of it's particular indie-rock event. The 'Chunk has Mac McCaughan's inexhaustible supply of four-on-the-floor anthems, a group dynamic that comes from years on the road, and an inhuman amount of energy - they don't just jump around on stage, they sound like they're pogoing while the tape's rolling too. Differences between Superchunk records are always of content and of degree, rather than of quality or kind. This time, the one that's even more catchy than the rest of them is called "Hyper Enough," the one that goes on your next mix tape is "Yeah, It's Beautiful Here Too" ("Last year/Last night/I'm tired/ Let's fight," goes the fist-in-the-air chorus), and the one that shows what Mac's been listening to lately is the closing "Certain Stars" (it sounds a bit like Pavement's "Half A Canyon"). The small difference seems to be that they've been traveling a lot lately: songs mention Detroit, Germany, an "Eastern terminal" and "your southern lands" (okay, it's a metaphor: as usual, the lyrics are a little on the cryptic side). The overall effect is like a travel postcard from old and dear friends: it doesn't say anything you wouldn't have guessed, but it says it awfully well, and it's always nice to hear from them. -Douglas Wolk DATALOG: Released Sep.25. First single "Hyper Enough." FILE UNDER: Long-haul indie-rock. RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE: Pavement, Rocket From The Crypt. Douglas wanders a bit, but a good review. Not sure what he's talking about with "certain stars" sounding like Pavement. (dave's note: i have to agree...they're both long songs for both bands, but -other than that - no similarities) +from KelleyPK@aol.com: Smug Magazine - September 1995 Issue #6 Volume #1 It is 100% free as it says on the cover. Superchunk is on the cover, a picture of them outside: Mac w/Beastie shades, Laura in orange hat. For info, write: 155 E 23d St, Suite 303; NY, NY 10010 ..... Smug is $15 a year to subscribe (payable to Smug, INC.) Phone #212.505.2094(fax); 212.505.0119 (info); also, they are looking for interns +if any of you have CHUNK bootlegs, please let me know - i'm trying to get a boot. list together as well... +in the future, look for a scan of a rather long interview by umdevodd@cc.UManitoba.CA with Jon - i'll have it sometime in the next month or two, so keep your clothes on `till then - i'll let you know when it's ready. HAHAHAHAHA!!!! The concert reviews are FINISHED! I'm on my way to being up on all my promises! Well, since it is the holiday season, I would just like to wish all of you Merry Christmas, Happy Channukah, Joyous Kwanzaa, Happy New Year, and enjoy any other holiday you might be celebrating... As this is probably the end of the list for this year, happy `95 and make some good resolutions. DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE - SEE YA IN `96! note - if you wrote me something and i didn't address it in either this mailer or the previous one, i goofed...as i get tons of mail, it is possible...i apologize and PLEASE PLEASE re-send me your inquiry OR just tell me i messed up and I'll search out your previous letters to me. Okay? "the matter is not where we go or how long it will last the question is how fast / the question is how fast"