VIA PRESS RELEASE | On August 25, Superchunk will reissue their self-titled album on vinyl for the first time since its initial release, and on Merge for the very first time. The remastered LP features updated artwork and includes an 11” × 17” replica of an early Chunk show flyer, with photos and notes from the band on the reverse.
Both CD and LP include a digital download of Clambakes Vol 9: Other Music From Unshowered Grumblers – Live in NYC 1990, a show recorded at CBGB just four days after the album was released. The first 250 LP orders will receive the album on vibrant opaque orange vinyl, and both CD and LP orders will include a large foldout poster of the woodcut used on the cover art, while supplies last. In addition, all pre-orders will be entered into a random drawing to win one of 25 original doodles by Laura Ballance! Pre-order Superchunk now on CD and limited-edition orange vinyl in the Merge store, where this release, along with the entire Superchunk catalog, is on sale for 10% off through July 25!
Mac shared his memories of these early days of Superchunk: “When I listen to our first album now, other than cringing at some clams and the vocals and the juvenile attitude of the whole thing… what was I angry about? You’ll have to ask 21-year-old me because in my memory, we were having fun. I hear the accumulation of our influences, which I suppose is normal for a first album—weaving all the things you loved up to that point into your own first thing. The Buzzcocks, Hüsker Dü, Dinosaur Jr, and Sonic Youth are all right there and what we were listening to.
Hearing this record recently, though, I was surprised at how “southern” some of it sounds, and I think the influence of bands like Drivin’ n’ Cryin’ and of course R.E.M. is there under the fuzz. I remember thinking the solo 4-track demo of “Slack Motherfucker” sounded like Tom Petty. I can’t find it now to prove it to you, but take my word for it.
I was living in NYC finishing school when we made this record, so rehearsals and recording were all rushed. I’m surprised we knew this many songs well enough to record them. Twenty-seven years later, we still play at least three or four of these songs live occasionally (one of them all the time…), which says something good about a few of the songs, anyway!
We got so much better as a band, and as songwriters, that it’s hard to even see this as any kind of template for what Superchunk would eventually be, but it’s definitely where we were at in 1989/90.”
—Mac McCaughan, May 2017
