The now-elder-statesmen of the Chapel Hill music scene (and the currently immensely popular indie rock machine), Superchunk have been off the radar for a while now. Majesty Shredding is the group’s ninth album and their first in nine years. While the band didn’t break up, they certainly have been busy with other projects (namely the cash cow Merge Records, which was founded by a portion of the group). But while the terms previously used to describe the band’s sound -“indie,” “emo,” “power pop”- have changed since their 90’s heyday, they certainly haven’t.
And so we could surmise that time apart is, indeed, healthy – Majesty Shredding is one of the sharpest-sounding and hook-laden CDs of this year, and probably the strongest of Superchunk’s career. It’s more energetic than anything most of Merge’s current roster could muster up, and it shows a mature, seminal 90’s band injecting a little perspective into today’s musical state. The sound, for the most part, hasn’t changed, so how do they make it sound so fresh? The answer is the same as it was then – no one does it like Superchunk.
Once every three months I list the best of what I heard in albums/songs/remixes for the quarter. I do this to personally keep up with all the awesome music I hear, as it ultimately helps me at the end of the year when I do my overall listing for the previous twelve months. I also do it to introduce you cool cats to tunes you may have missed independently.
When Interscope turned down Feeler, the sophomore effort from Dallas natives the Toadies, back in 1997, they probably had no idea what they were hearing – an alt-rock sound slightly more progressive and ahead of its time than what was filling up the airwaves at the moment. The late 90’s were a transforming period for most of popular music; we had yet to see the short-lived Latin craze, the boy band saga, or the nu-metal movement take full swing. The execs at the major label quickly tossed this promising album aside because they simply didn’t hear another “Possum Kingdom,” the track that helped the band’s debut Rubberneck go multi-platinum.
After the promising second album Hell Below Stars Above, the band called it quits for a while, then returned with the hit-or-miss comeback album No Deliverance. But this retooling of that lost album is a shining point in the band’s catalog, no doubt. The crew went into the studio this summer and re-recorded a portion of the tracks from Feeler, giving them a fresher, edgier, and louder touch. Frontman Vaden Todd Lewis’ now-raspy Texan wail provides a more aggressive approach to the already-pristine material. The new album reveals a refreshed band playing previously shelved masterpieces from the era of their creative peak. An essential listen for all Toadies and Texas music fans.
Today marks the official first day of autumn 2010. As far as music goes, there is usually one “song of the summer” – a track that we will forever associate with the previous season of this particular year. This song usually embodies the typical moods related to summer – laziness, partying, a carefree, optimistic attitude, et al.
While I’m not going to try and pick this song, I have my nominations – songs that will bring me back to this summer, my first few months in a new city, and, as with most summers, a good time in near-intolerable heat.
We all know Kelis as the girl that brought all the boys to the yard via her milkshake, but you wouldn’t correlate her past with her present after hearing her latest effort Flesh Tone. Most critics have mentioned, when reviewing this new album, that Kelis recently went through a bitter divorce and had a child. She has been branded as a new woman, with a renewed purpose and a complete musical makeover.
And that’s all pretty much true. While we certainly can’t predict the future sounds this starlet will bring us (whose musical tendencies are sporadic, unpredictable, and always exciting), this time around she has traded in the slick post-R&B style for a Euro-pop, space-age approach. And because the songwriting is pristine and the hooks are focused, it totally works. The lyrics are poignant, emotional, and obviously dedicated to her new love – her child. And while the words are sentimental, the beats are overpowering. Never has a sweet dedication to one’s baby been so damn danceable.
The two go hand in hand – Greenspon is a punchier, youthful accompaniment to Cloud Nothings’ sharp sing-along garage rock, though the latter tackles a poppier approach on this release. Bridgetown had this to say about the disc:
“The long-awaited split album between these 2 rising young solo artists opens with 5 new songs by Kevin Greenspon: California weirdo heartthrob pop punk about looking back on teenage years and losing it all. Cloud Nothings rounds out the disc with 5 more exclusive new songs: the Cleveland teenager takes his catchy brand of raw and distorted-beyond-the-red bedroom pop in a direction not seen in his “Turning On” album or subsequent tape/vinyl releases.”
The release is limited to 250 discs with full-color inserts and lyric sheets. They go on sale TODAY over at the label’s site, so get one while they’re still around. Sample a track from both artists below.
