Copyright 1992 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
                               Chicago Sun-Times

               February 21, 1992, FRIDAY , FIVE STAR SPORTS FINAL

SECTION: WEEKEND PLUS; ROCK MUSIC; Pg. 13; NC

LENGTH: 519 words

HEADLINE:  Superchunk  puts a song under all of its crunch

BYLINE: Eric Puls

BODY:

Superchunk, Teenage Fanclub 7:30 tonight Cabaret Metro, 3730 N. Clark 
Tickets, $ 6 Ticketmaster, 559-1212

   For most Midwesterners, Superchunk is that penny-wise hunk of cheese the size
of a 2-by-4 in the grocer's dairy case.

   To underground music mavens, though, Superchunk is a white-hot quartet from
Chapel Hill, N.C., that has the hype machine blowing gaskets. "Yeah," said Mac,
singer, guitarist and songwriter for the band, opening for Teenage 
Fanclub tonight at Cabaret Metro. "This 'band of the moment' tag is
getting pretty ridiculous, pretty boring."

   So much for the snotty star trip. Mac (the band eschews last names), along
with Jim on guitar, Laura on bass and drummer Chuck, are regular Joes who just
happen to whip up miniature three-minute maelstroms that recall tetras fighting
in a fishbowl.

   Put on either Superchunk's self-titled debut or the latest disc, "No Pocky
for Kitty," and the songs roar by like a monorail, Mac's boyish bray atop a
frazzled slab of sound that is equal parts punkish froth and simple, sturdy pop
construction.

   "I work in a record store and I hear a lot of new bands," said Mac. "I've
found that many of the New Zealand bands, such as the Bats and Tall Dwarfs, have
a lot in common with, say, the Buzzcocks, who I grew up listening to, and that
is that no matter how much noise and disarray is used in the sound, you just
have to have a song underneath. That's what I want our records to be like."

   To accomplish that, the band recorded "No Pocky for Kitty" at the Chicago
Recording Company last April with local underground guru Steve Albini. 

   "I love the sound Steve is able to capture: that huge, loud guitar. We all
loved the last Urge Overkill and Jesus Lizard discs, and the first couple of
Pixies records sounded like that," Mac said, citing several Albini productions.
"Just totally powerful.

   "We also wanted to move away from that hazy guitar squawk that is so popular.
I was getting sick to death of all the Dinosaur Jr. comparisons."

   But the band opted to leave Albini's name off the packaging.

   "That was sort of his idea," Mac admitted. "He told us, 'You'll probably sell
a lot more copies of it if you don't mention me.' People have a preconceived
notion as to what an 'Albini production' sounds like."

   In concert, blistering pop grenades like "Cast Iron" and "Skip Steps 1 & 3"
explode under Mac's devil-may-care riffing, his lungs set to burst beneath the
frenetic pace at which he sings.

   "I don't like to explain the songs," said Mac. "When I'm singing I hear it in
my head perfectly, although I'm sure it's fairly garbled-sounding to the crowd."

   Nevertheless, bratty, scuffed-up-knee lyrics like "I'll kick that stool right
out from under you" and "I'm making a promise and that's a start" poke out often
enough for listeners to recognize the stance that is the birthright of all real
rock 'n' roll - rebellion with a runny nose.

   When Mac sings "You better memorize this face" during "Seed Toss," the line
cuts both ways, as a threat and as a plea, and that extra dimension makes
Superchunk all the more heroic.