Superchunk: News

March 4, 2008
CLAMBAKES V1 2.0
Volume 1 of the Clambake Series (out of print currently) is now back in "print" digitally on the new Merge digital store.

May 18, 2007
MISFITS AND MISTAKES COMING JUNE 5TH
A Superchunk 7" single comes out June 5th! and it's a freaking picture disc no less. "Misfits and Mistakes" is the A-side, and the flip is the same song, only with everyone's favorite meat wad, Meatwad, singing.

HEADS UP BROOKLYN
FREE Superchunk show on June 24 at McCarren Pool/Park in Brooklyn. Details here.

May 3, 2007
HEADS UP CHICAGO
Superchunk will be playing Chicago on June 20th! The occasion is the Eff Cancer Benefit at the Metro and will also feature such indie rock wildlife as The Mountain Goats and a special guest to be announced soon.

The show is being put together for longtime Superchunk fan Sean Silver, who 4 years ago was diagnosed with Chordoma. Proceeds will go to fight this rare form of cancer. Tickets go on sale May 12!

Tickets will be available through Ticketmaster (w/ fee) or directly from the Metro Box Office in person (no fee).

January 4, 2007
2007: THE YEAR OF THE TEEN
We were recently tapped to provide a song for the new feature film version of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force show, and we obliged (Shake threatened us), writing and recording a new song called "Misfits and Mistakes". We recorded and mixed the track at Overdub Lane in Durham with. We also recorded a demo of "Learned to Surf" -- the new song we played in NYC at the Daily Show 10th Anniversary show -- so we don't forget how it goes.

More details on the Portastatic blog...

March 7, 2006
THEY LIVE
Superchunk will be playing the Merge show at South By Southwest this year! Saturday, March 18th at Antone's... head over to the Merge site for all the details.

November 30, 2005
HOLIDAY POSTER AUCTION:
Make Your Walls, The World a Better Place

Over at Merge there's a poster auction going on -- signed posters by yr fave merge artists --and all proceeds go to benefit Oxfam and the North Carolina Food Bank. The next set of posters goes up on ebay in the next day or so, and will include a really cool Portastatic poster from the show we did in Kalamazoo this fall... check out all the info here.

And see the auctions here.

Thanks for your help during this particularly crucial time of year for those in need!

We will be playing 2 shows in Chapel Hill next month -- Sunday, July 10 with the reunited Dinosaur Jr. at the Cats Cradle AND just added: Friday, July 29 headlining at the Cats Cradle! see you there!"

"When We Were 10 -- Live at the Cats Cradle 1999" is the new installment of
our self-released Clambakes series, and was recorded 5 years ago at the M10K
Merge Records 10th Anniversary party. We remember it as not only
mohawk-wiltingly hot and sweaty, but also as one of our rockingest shows
ever, if we may be so immodest. "Hits" abound but so do some songs we've
hardly played since. Sure, there are enough clams to justify the "Clambakes" moniker, but there's also plenty of Jim Wilbur banter in between songs to make you forget about a few bum notes here and there, and overall it's a nice document of a great night -- you can almost smell our wilting corsages.

Unbelievable Things
Cursed Mirror
Skip Steps 1 & 3
Throwing Things
Hello Hawk
Smarter Hearts
Nu Bruises
The Question is How Fast
Watery Hands
Pink Clouds
Driveway to Driveway
Hyper Enough
Martinis on the Roof
Like a Fool
Slack Motherfucker
Cast Iron
Precision Auto

We hope to have this for sale at the Merge 15-Year Anniversary Weekend, and
soon thereafter on the Merge website. Thanks!

SUPERCHUNK has contributed a track to the new Kill Rock Stars compilation Tracks and Fields (On Sale Now!) and the song is called "Everyone Gets Crushed". This is our first ever interaction with this fine rock and roll record label and it's great to be a part of the comp. The basics of the song were written around the time of Here's To Shutting Up, and we referred to the acoustic demo jokingly as "4manjam", in a nod to one of Wilbur's fave hair-metal ensembles, Tesla. In fact Best Buy had the song listed this way in their pre-release description of "Tracks and Fields"! (oh Best Buy, thanks for reminding me where i should go to learn more about modern music.) Anyway, the song was never finished until last fall when vocals and some extra guitar tracks were added so that now it barely resembles Tesla at all, and has a better name.

Speaking of compilations, SUPERCHUNK recently spent a couple days at famed Duck Kee Studios in lovely Mebane, NC recording 3 new tracks. one of them, "Freaks In Charge" (performed a couple times on the tour last fall) will appear on Merge Records' 15th Anniversary compilation, Old Enough To Know Better which will be released July 13th. the band will also be performing on the first night of the Merge 15th Anniversary weekend, Thursday July 29th, and the whole weekend should be a blast -- head over to the new Merge site (still at www.mergerecords.com) for more details.

hey come to think of it, if Merge is 15, so is Superchunk! happy birthday to our own selves.

no other 'Chunk dates scheduled at the moment but if you're just jonesing for Jon, he's out whacking the skins with Philly boys Marah across the USA.

February 5, 2004
SUPERCHUNK DVD SHOWINGS AROUND THE NATION!
Well in some parts of the nation, anyway. Check out these screenings of the Quest for Sleep documentary and more from the new Superchunk DVD!

2.11
Cambridge, MA • Zeitgeist Gallery • 8pm

2.16
Atlanta, GA • The Earl
Presented by Criminal Records and Chunklet Magazine • 9pm

December 4, 2003
In conjunction with the first Portastatic West Coast tour dates ever, there will be an on-air performance on Seattle's KEXP on Saturday, Dec 6th at 3:30 pm -- they webcast! so check it out.

November 4, 2003
THANKS to everyone who came to the East Coast shows a couple weeks back, we had a great time -- here's some nice big pics at right taken by Cam Carrithers at the CMJ show at the Bowery Ballroom...

SUPERCHUNK will appear live at an Alejandro Escovedo Benefit Concert in Raleigh, NC on November 23rd, along with many other fine acts including Six String Drag, Marah, 2 Dollar Pistols, and others. the show is at Retail in downtown Raleigh, located at 14 W. Martin Street and Superchunk is scheduled to go on at 12 midnight. good cause, good concert, hope to see you there! For more information on Alejandro and the benefit concert visit www.alejandroescovedo.com and www.alejandrofund.com

CROWDING UP YOUR VISUAL FIELD, the Superchunk DVD, has been pushed back to a February release date due to unforseen technical difficulties...we're back on track and the wrinkles have been ironed out so when this beast is finally released it will be up to the high entertainment standards you people have come to expect!

PORTASTATIC "Autumn Was A Lark" out now, first ever West Coast tour dates in December! These will most likely be performed solo-style, electric or acoustic yet to be determined!

12.06 • Seattle, WA
Showbox
w/ Stephen Malkmus & Pernice Bros.

12.07 • Portland, OR
Dante's

12.11 • San Francisco, CA
Bottom of the Hill
w/ Rogue Wave

12.13 • Los Angeles, CA
Spaceland
w/ The Minders & Nik Frietas

New Superchunk song, "Everyone Gets Crushed" to be included in forthcoming Kill Rock Stars compilation entitled Tracks and Fields

Years in the making (or at least in the talking-about) Crowding Up Your Visual Field is a collection of 12 Superchunk videos, dating from the No Pocky For Kitty days through last year's "Art Class" video from the Here's To Shutting Up. Included are videos directed by Norwood Cheek, Peyton Reed (who has gone on to direct the feature films "Bring it On" & "Down With Love"), Jesse Peretz (formerly of the Lemonheads) and a Phil Morrison-directed video for the song "Watery Hands" that features Janeane Garafalo and David Cross in some new wave hilarity.

Typically ignored by MTV and your other mainstream video outlets, this is most of the world's first chance to see all these vids in the natural environment! Many of the videos will also be watchable with insightful and/or hilarious and/or confused commentary from band members!

On top of the video compilation, the DVD will also contain a bunch of bonus materials; most notably "Quest For Sleep", an hour long documentary shot by the band during their 2001 tour of Japan, Europe and the U.S. Also included will be some live clips from across the band's 14 (and counting) year career, including footage from Superchunk's first show ever. Last, but not least, there will be 4 homemade videos by fans, and one by the band themselves.

Portastatic in full rock band mode follows up April's Summer of the Shark album with a EP that springs from the touring Portastatic did in support of the album. The EP is titled Autumn Was a Lark, and details abound at portastatic.com

May 7, 2003
2-CD MARATHON OF SUPERCHUNK EPHEMERA HAS NAME, AND A TRACK-LISTING!

The new compilation of b-sides, singles, comp tracks, and other ephemera (including at least 4 previously unreleased numbers!) is called Cup of Sand, and here's the track-list for your perusing. Let the second-guessing begin!

Disc One
1 The Majestic
2 Reg
3 Her Royal Fisticuffs
4 The Mine Has Been Returned To Its Original Owner
5 A Small Definition
6 Dance Lessons
7 Basement Life
8 Still Feed Myself
9 Fader Rules
10 Never Too Young To Smoke
11 Detroit Has A Skyline (acoustic)
12 Does Your Hometown Care

Disc Two
13 Beat My Guest
14 With Bells On
15 Clover
16 Sexy Ankles
17 White Noise
18 Thin Air
19 Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
20 1,000 Pounds (duck kee style)
21 The Length of Las Ramblas
22 Becoming A Speck
23 The Hot Break
24 A Collection of Accounts

After delays, last-minute discoveries, and much hemming and hawing, the release date for Cup of Sand is most definitely August 19th.

First real tour about to begin!

"The Summer of the Shark" is released today, April 8, so check your local boutique or head over to the Merge Records website and pick it up there.

Check www.portastatic.com for full tour date info about this rare live excursion.

CHUNK B-SIDES COMP TO BE A DOUBLE!

the as-yet-untitled (but almost there) Superchunk b-sides/comp tracks/rarities etc compilation is now slated to be a double disc affair. Say that the songs never deserved to be on a record, say that we're leaving off your favorite acoustic b-side, but whatever you do don't say we don't write enough damn songs! We got 'em comin' out our ears over here! Track listing to be announced very soon, and there are at least 4 unreleased tracks, including a couple even WE forgot about!

...And while we won't be giving any cd's away, you do have a second chance to buy the first Clambake (Acoustic In-Stores East and West) CD. due to a pressing plant overrun, we have a very limited quantity of Vol. 1 Clambakes for sale over at the Merge Records website.

Please note: While there was an overrun at the pressing plant and we didn't want those discs to go to waste, there are no more nice paper sleeves that the original pressing came in, so these will have Kinko's-style black and white sleeves (you still get the liner notes at least) and will come in slimline jewel boxes. because the packaging is decidedly not as cool as the originals, the few that we have will be sold at a discount. if you missed it the first time around, here's your chance. and for those who already snapped it up, Vol. 2 is flying out the door as well, so head to Merge if you want one! Thanks!

HAVING A NEW YEAR CLAMBAKE!
Hope everyone's holidays were festive, merry, slightly debauched, etc. and that the new year brings greatness to all. The only thing we can bring you is rock and roll music, and the first sign of that on the Superchunk front is Vol. 2 of The Clambakes series, and this one is somewhat cumbersomely entitled "Music For Kinugasa's Page of Madness".

It is a live recording of the one and only performance we did of music written to accompany this great Japanese silent film. We were commissioned by the San Francisco International Film Festival to compose the score, wrote the music early 2002, and performed the music with the film at the Castro Theater in SF during the festival, April 23rd of 2002. Jon had previous engagements for that date, but we wrote the music as a group, Jon recorded some drum parts, and we brought in a ringer in the form of Chuck Johnson, who put Jon's rhythm tracks into his magic laptop, looped, chopped, remodeled etc and then performed with us at the Castro. Ash Bowie even makes an appearance on percussion.

We recorded the performance from the board, but luckily there was also an audience member who recorded the show as well, and by mixing the two recordings (with the help of Brian Paulson) we came up with something that actually sounds pretty cool. Of course, it would be ideal if you could all watch the film while listening, but we'll leave that part up to you.

"Music for Kinugasa's Page of Madness" should be ready to be shipped out by the second week of January, and you can begin ordering from the Merge website any minute now so that when we get them put together you'll get yours shipped out immediately. We're limiting this Clambake to 2,500, a bit larger run than the first one, so that no one gets shut out!

AND SPEAKING OF VOLUME ONE...
We have a few more CD's than we did sleeves for Clambake Vol 1 Acoustic In-stores East and West, due to an overrun at the CD plant. we are currently trying to figure out how to package these extra CD's so that those who still need a copy can get one, albeit without the cool paper sleeve the bulk of them came with. There will be about 125 of these made available, keep checking the Merge site for details on that if you still need one.

DVD -- WE'VE HEARD ABOUT THEM!
Ok this Superchunk DVD thing has been on our agenda for a couple years now. Well we're glad we waited since now we have Norwood Cheek's fabulous Art Class video to include. Anyway, we're still shooting for a late Spring / early Summer release date for the DVD, which is as yet untitled. It will include all our videos, plus a couple homemade numbers, as well as director & band commetaries and who knows what else!
We've never put one together before, and we're still figuring out the details, but hopefully we'll have it out by June! Thanks for your patience!

WE'LL MISS JOE STRUMMER
The Clash were a great punk band, and a great rock and roll band, and icons of their era. 50 is way too young, and it's a sad, sad thing, but at least we've got the great records he made.

PORTASTATIC: NEW ALBUM IS COMPLETE!
Recorded at home and mixed with John Plymale (Indoor Living producer), it's called "The Summer of the Shark" and will be out on Merge in April.

ART CLASS VID FOR THE VIEWING
the Norwood Cheek - directed video for "Art Class (Song for Yayoi Kusama)" is up on Launch.com for your viewing pleasure.

CLAMBAKES VOL 1 SOLD OUT!
Sorry, there are no more CLAMBAKES VOL 1 left. You (some of you) snoozed and you (some of you) losed.

There's studio time scheduled to go in and work on some various recordings for possible release as CLAMBAKES VOL 2 and beyond. when the quality is approved and tapes are sorted and decisions are made, we'll let you know about what's slated, but possibilities include the Page of Madness Score recorded live at the Castro Theater in San Francisco, and a show recorded at the Cat's Cradle at the Merge 10-year "M10K" celebration in the summer of '99.

MORE INCIDENTAL MUSIC?
A new volume of Superchunk b-sides, singles, and various tunes floating about in the ether will be collected for (hopefully) a Spring '03 release. No title has been given to this album. as usual, we will attempt to be comprehensive, but if there are specific things you want to make SURE we don't forget to put on there then by all means let us know about it!

• Chapel Hill-based film maker Cam Carrithers has completed a documentary on Superchunk. You can check it out at fortension.com.

• The Art Class EP is out now. The CD contains the original album track, an acoustic version and the band's first foray into the world of enhanced video - a live clip from Superchunk' s show at Chapel Hill's Cat's Cradle last fall. The EP also includes previously unreleased tracks.

Clambake Correction: Clambake host Sonic Boom Records in Seattle by cruel accident did not get their props on the CD sleeve, so thanks again to them and sorry for the missing info! Visit them when you're in the emerald city, it's a great store!

clam (klam), n., 1. a wrong note, a mistake "Boy, Jim was having a regular clambake over on his side of the stage tonight."

• Calling Zero, a collaborative effort between Mac and Guided By Voices main man Robert Pollard was released on February 26. Check out the GBV site for info.

• The follow-up to Jon's and Tom Scharpling' s Rock, Rot and Rule is out. It's called Chain Fights, Beer Busts and Service with a Grin.

• There is a new Portastatic EP out called The Perfect Little Door. Check out Merge for more info.

• We have received many requests for lyrics and tabs over the years. We are sorry to officially announce that none are available. As for tabs, we're not really even sure what they are.