The Most Underrated Band Of All Time: SUPERCHUNK
Whenever you think of bands that rocked out the hardest in the 90s, most feeble brains go to Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, possibly even Green Day, The Smashing Pumpkins, or even Pearl Jam; maybe just maybe you thought of Rage Against The Machine, Stone Temple Pilots. You know, all those grunge and alternative bands that were insanely popular and killed it on the radio everyday. But there's one band that comes straight out of Chapel Hill, North Carolina that hardly gets mentioned that dominated style and charisma unlike any other band. I'm speaking of course about a little band known as Superchunk.
Formed in 1989 by Mac McCaughan, Laura Ballance, Chuck Garrison, and Jack McCook, Superchunk went straight to work to ensure they had an eclectic sound that would paste them onto the rock scene like mod podge to construction paper. I feel that it's essential to add that Superchunk got their name from Chuck Garrison, because the phone books would accidentally have him listed as 'Chunk Garrison', so they called themselves Chunk until they realized there was already a jazz band named that. Mac's mom told them they should add 'super' as a prefix to 'chunk' and the name stuck! Releasing their debut studio album just a year after they started as a band, they quickly turned heads in the underground in ways that no other band had done before. With the high vocal range of Mac McCaughan, they stood out and put their foot down in the right areas. While they did start small, they stayed relatively small as well but grew a cult fanbase that I'd even compare to Ween or Phish honestly.
Their first release was a self titled album that featured the eye opening track 'Slack Motherfucker', which helped pave the way for the term "slacker" for years to come (even before Richard Linklater's film Slacker, which wasn't released in the United States until July of 1991). This album is just the stepping stone; a cult classic but not their strongest suit. But nothing was slowing them down, and nothing ever could slow them down. In 1991, Superchunk released their second album titled 'No Pocky For Kitty', a very intriguing cult album that some fans would even hail as their best work. The songwriting, instrumentation and musicianship had grown exponentially at this point already and I'd have to agree that this album is beyond fantastic and is the classic Superchunk sound we know and love.
Avoiding grunge; avoiding what was most popular in the 90s at the time, Superchunk is widely considered "indie" simply put because they didn't sign to any major labels and instead released all their stuff from their own label Merge Records (with the exception of their self titled debut, which was put out by Matador.) And although they are indie and their music sound is labeled that, they blended many of the rock genres through the years to the point where I'd even say a lot of it truly is alternative. Their most popular body of work would be the album 'Foolish' released in 1994, where the songwriting was perhaps at its absolute strongest and the songs are incredibly catchy and sometimes more somber. This is due to the breakup of Mac and Laura Ballance at the time, which luckily did not separate the band and they kept touring and writing music together instead of even taking a quick break.
It's no surprise that in the 90's and early 2000's the band was a big staple of college radio stations and the music and lyrics somehow could make college kids relate in a big way. Whether it was break ups, nostalgic themes, progressive guitar riffs, or catchy choruses, it spoke to many people across many campuses across the United States. I always noted and loved how in the college film 'Road Trip' directed by Todd Phillips, a Superchunk poster can be seen in the main characters' dorm room on the wall. The creators of Aqua Teen Hunger Force Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro are also apart of this phenomenon of listening to the group in college and later on would include their song Misfits and Mistakes (from the EP of the same name) on the soundtrack to the first Aqua Teen movie back in 2007.
Superchunk is truly iconic and although they are well established and well respected, I often wish that more people knew of their music. But that would break the ties to their indie categorization and I don't want them to be mainstream as much as I wish the cult following would grow because the music they make is something that needs to be heard in my opinion. I've listened to every album from start to finish, from the first self titled album all the way to the Clambakes series and their newest collection of songs released this year in 2023 called 'Misfits and Mistakes: Singles, B-sides, and Strays 2007-2023'. If you haven't by now, go listen to this band. Buy their albums. Buy their merch, they are more worth it than you'll ever know.
- Rhett Rhodes
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