Date: Sun, 1 Sep 1996 16:03:41 -0400 From: PackageThf@aol.com Subject: keeping track (the Superchunk Internationale eMailing List) Back sooner than I expected as I talked to Jon sooner than I expected to....here's the latest: The Australian tour is (tenatively) back on. (why "tenative" again? remember what happened last time? but, at least this time, it's more likely.) tenative dates are: Nov. 15 - Brisbane - The Roxy Nov. 16 - Canberra - The Anu Bar Nov. 17 - Sydney -The Metro (2 shows that day) Nov. 20 - Perth - The Planet Nov. 22 - Adelaide - Tivoli Nov. 23 - Melbourne - Corner Hotel (2 shows that day) Nov. 25 - Auckland, New Zealand - The Power Station Scheduled to open for Superchunk is an Australian band named the First Pencil. And, even though the Superchunk/GbV AU tour is only a memory, the 6 song Ep (3 songs from each band) may still come out down under - some copies were pressed before the ill-starred tour was cancelled, so you may see it yet. For those of you in the US, don't worry - you're not getting shut out. Sometime in the new future (most likely by the end of October), there will be a US pressing of the aforementioned 3 songs, plus the one cover song (again, check the above site address for more info on this; see the late august mailer) but there will now be a bonus cut - of sorts. The 5th track will be a tape of two local DJ's (local to the band, that is) and an on-air dissection of "Hyper Enough" that went way too indepth. It is, in fact, this "track" that gives the EP it's name: "The Laughing Guns." (which is titled as such because of a lyric that the DJ's analyze - which they believe is "the laughing guns" - but isn't...) The one catch is that there is expected to be only one run of the discs - a limited run of only 5,000, in fact. This is still tenative as well, but it that is what happens, than the disc will probably only be made available through Merge Mailorder. I'll keep you posted as events develop... Show Info: Sept. 7 show at Stoney Brook college in Long Island, NY (incidentally, if you are planning on going to the show, make sure to check with the college to make sure that this is an open event and NOT restricted to students of that college. It has happened before without the band being told about it - so call the college before you trek to see the show) Tenative but also likely: A short tour of about a week of the U.S. south which will include, yes, FLORIDA. (cries of joy go up in the sunshine state) Approximate date start is Oct. 25 with the tour probably ending on Oct. 31 (Halloween!) in Athens, GA. (Coincidentally, this is also Jon Wurster's birthday, so feel free to send him birthday cards care of Merge) In case you were wondering, since the line-up does vary, this is the Portastatic line-up for the CMJ show: Mac, Ben Barwick (guitar), Jennifer Walker (bass) and, on drums - not Jon or Claire Ashby - but Matt McCaughan, Mac's younger brother. (I asked Jon why he and Claire wouldn't be doing the show, to which he replied: "we were fired" - then told me that he was only joking. The real reason is that, since Portastatic is always Mac and whoever else, it just winds up being that some people do some shows and some people do others.) Jon also said that Matt may make an appearance on the forthcoming Portastatic 7" or EP (whichever it winds up being) I know that most of you outside the US or AU must be feeling a little shut out, so here's a little good news for all the world. Richard Linklatter is directing a new movie (this is the guy who did "Slacker" and "Dazed and Confused") - and Superchunk will be on the soundtrack. The movie is "Suburbia" and it's based on the Eric Bogosian play (although the movie title may be changed before release). The song is as yet untitled - and lyric-less - but you will be seeing it on the soundtrack! One last thing - as far as the extra live tracks on the AU "On Paper It Made Perfect Sense" EP, here's the story: Superchunk sent a tape of several live songs from the one show to Fellaheen (who releases Superchunk down under) with a list of the songs that they did want specifically included. ("Shallow End" was supposed to be left off, in particular, because Superchunk was under contract to deliver the song for the specific use on the Jerky Boys soundtrack and they could not use it anywhere else first; "on paper" would have pre-dated the release of the Jerky Boys soundtrack and violated the contract). Well, Fellaheen then sent the tape and list to a new manufacturer out of the country - who arbitrarily made the first batch with six of the live songs. Fellaheen caught the error and had new discs made with only 3 live songs. However, since only a few of the original version had gotten printed, they were shipped out along with the correct copies. (Jon didn't know how many of the discs there were with the additional songs off-hand.) THIS JUST IN, from matt@oasis.novia.net: Portastatic is playing in Durham at a transmitter benefit for WXDU, the Duke radio station, Saturday September 14th at the Duke Coffeehouse. There are bands playing every hour (so I assume that means that Portstatic will be playing for 45-50 minutes) and I believe that Portstatic is due on at 11 p.m. or midnight. Minimum donation: $5. okay, lots of stuff is going on after all - i'll keep ya posted on it all! - dave