The Washington Post
                     January 7, 1994, Friday, Final Edition

SECTION: WEEKEND; PAGE N12

LENGTH: 178 words

HEADLINE:  Superchunk's  Pop Floating in Mix

SERIES: Occasional

BYLINE: Mark Jenkins

BODY:

THE MEMBERS of Superchunk are fiercely indie-minded; when their label,
Matador, signed a distribution deal with a major, they reportedly opted out.
Their guitar-oriented college-radio rock isn't all that fierce, though: Given
production values designed to disguise rather emphasize its raggedness, the
Chapel Hill, N.C., quartet would stand revealed as a pop band.

Superchunk's album "On the Mouth" includes plenty of songs that have melody
to burn. Despite their jagged guitars and scrawny vocals, such tracks as
"Mower," "New Low" and "I Guess I Remembered It Wrong" are quite catchy; with
its vestigial backing vocals and surging guitar figure, "Package Thief" is
almost anthemic.

"Mouth" is frequently appealing, but its offhand sound doesn't seem integral.
Perhaps the band should experiment with tidying up its sloppy style, at 
least a little.