The World’s Finest Indie Rock Record Label Gives Us Something to Believe In
My history with Merge Records is virtually as long as the the lifespan of the label itself. There was a time when there were a few labels out there such as Merge and Matador that could be counted on for every single release. If you loved three of the label’s releases, it would usually reason you would like 99.9% of what they would offer. Today, Merge still holds that impossibly high batting average. Even if I have not heard of the band (Broken West, Telekinesis) a roll of the dice would usually yield something I would appreciate and might even love. But usually, every single thing thrilled me . . . David Kilgour, Spent, Spoon, Butterglory, Arcade Fire, and The Clean. Then, there were the bands whose music, and live shows changed my whole life in the way I would look at adventureous music and beautiful art; Polvo, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Superchunk.
I have a history with this label and its bands. I will never forget getting a response from Merge and Laura concerning a demo tape I had sent of a band of mine called Disaster Scrapbook. Not only had she listened to it but she took the time to comment. While she said that they loved the music, they simply could not get past our vocalist’s uncanny knack at sounding exactly like Peter Murphy. I had never thought this before this note, but it made me laugh, and I thought, yeah maybe . . .
Booking Neutral Milk Hotel to play Juanita’s in Chico was also a high point. Juanita’s was tiny, tiny, tiny. Bands usually played in the window on this raised floor. When one hundred people squeezed into this place, it became difficult to move without spilling beer on fellow showgoers, but the mood was perfect, chaotic, loud, with a sound that felt larger than life. Neutral Milk Hotel was touring behind On Avery Island and were fierce in their passion and live delivery. They didn’t just mean it, they lived it. Beautiful people as well, Julian had to be the most affable touring band person of all time, as he stayed with me when Chocolate U.S.A. was in town, and was nothing but wonderful conversation, genuine sincerity, and warmth. Jeff Mangum may have been quiet, but whenever engaged in conversation was more than willing to talk, and was also quite friendly. I still don’t know how he dealt with my roommate, whom loved the band, yelling “Neutralize Me! in between songs. He also politely fielded the question from my friend, if anyone ever referred to him as Mangum Force. No wonder the guy quit rock and roll. Whatever the case, it was after this tour that Neutral Milk delivered one of modern rock’s most surprising masterpieces with In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. I can honestly say the world is richer for having such songs, such stories, such heart all wrapped up in that unequaled album.
Superchunk Setting The Pace
Superchunk was a band that showed my friends and I how it was done. How to form a band, tour, and put out music that made so many bands pale in comparison, that was what Superchunk did. From their debut up until their most recent Leaves in the Gutter, the band has grown without compromise, and never let its trademark energy suffer. Before I even purchased the band’s debut album I was already trusting Matador to show me the way. I had purchased Slanted and Enchanted, Railroad Jerk’s debut, and Bettie Seervert’s Palomine, and positively knew that buying Superchunk’s debut self-titled would hold riches similar to the albums I had already purchased. I was not disappointed, and “Slack Motherfucker” was a classic the second it hit my ear.
When the band played Chico so many years ago, they played to a smallish crowd at The Burro Room. I drank about ten times what I normally did, and at the conclusion of the evening said dumb drunk guy things to the band (probably on how much I loved their music - hopefully I did not spit on anyone while sputtering this out) and promptly purchased a Superchunk shirt two sizes to small. The last thing I remember of that night was eating an omelette and climbing a tree. Did I mention how much I love Superchunk?
Those Mooney Stars
In an alternate universe where all is just, Butterglory would have been like the Rolling Stones of Indie Rock. Not that their music sounded even remotely like Mick and Keith, but Butterglory definitely deserved the attention, dedication, and reaction that our world gave to the Stones.
Butterglory was above the pomp and cirucmstance. In fact, their music seemed small and sweet, like a secret between fifth grade friends. And it felt that innocent . . . untouched by pretension and pose, Butterglory was charming in their honesty and execution. The band’s first single “Alexander Bends” is the evidence. The music is primitive (similar to Beat Happening) and playful in manner much like Pavement. Yes, Butterglory was Lo-Fi, and no the songs never ever suffered because of it. In some strange way, because of the lack of gloss and using only guitar and drums, it all lent Butterglory an air of authenticity that millions of dollars and two years in the studio could never purchase. Of course, you still have to have good songs, authenticy by itself does nothing. Butterglory had great songs.
When Butterglory toured behind Crumble I was lucky enough to catch them twice. Once was at a house party in Davis, CA, and the other show was at a club in Chico with Charm Fueled and Knapsack opening. The house party proved more fun, as the band was loose and having fun. The small room made for a festive atmosphere as the band ran through a set list that felt like I had drawn it up. Beautiful! The morning after their show in Chico, I had the opportunity to make pancakes for the band at my friends house. I was experimenting with mixing Sierra Nevada Porter Ale in the pancake batter, but god bless ‘em, Butterglory was having none of it . . . Butterglory apparently had as great a taste in food as they did in music. Crumbled and Downed (the band’s 7″s compiled) are essential. Buy them, you won’t be disappointed.
Polvo, Where Have You Been My Whole Life?
My discovering Polvo, was me discovering the ’sound’ my head and heart heard as my favorite music but had never found until then. The first time listening to Polvo is a bit like finding a five year old boldly coloring outside all the given lines of a coloring book. Polvo blurred all lines and challenged all preconceptions of what music had to sound like. In the process they delivered music that swooped, swooned, and exploded with dizzying energy while maintaining a Far Eastern Motif. No one sounded like Polvo, and Polvo sounded like no one.
Polvo became my favorite band with the release of Today’s Active Lifestyles. “Sure Shot” and “Lazy Comet” were not only surprising with their arrangment and aural pathways, but were out and out breathtaking in the passages played for beauty melting into the extremes of chaos and collapse. When Polvo played aggressive, it always proved just as weird which meant a whole new alien atmosphere that rock and roll had never experienced until this Chapel Hill, NC quartet.
Being that Polvo is my favorite band, it is hard to recommend an album over another. If pressed, I would have to say the previously mentioned album or Celebrate the New Dark Age EP would be great places to start. Though the band broke up over ten years ago, Polvo this year not only announced reforming to perform at festivals and to tour, but also revealed that an album of new songs will be released September 8th. It’s called In Prism and there is every reason in the world to expect it to hold true to the band’s singular legacy.
Rock scribes can search for superlatives, and toss around hyperbole, but ultimately what will prove Merge’s legacy wll be the music. CD and concert reviews are just words on paper. They won’t breathe life into the moment near as well as Merge Records’ roster of artists. Happy Birthday Merge Records. We love you and wish you at least one hundred more years of giving the world something worth dreaming on.
I’m Working For Me…
I discovered Superchunk at a time when anything and everything I purchased from Matador Records was a winning move. Pavement’s Slanted and Enchanted, Railroad Jerk’s Self-Titled, Bettie Serveert’s Palomine, and Superchunk’s 1990 debut full-length, an irreverent sonic bomb brimming with a manic electricity unheard since England’s Buzzcocks. The rightful reason Superchunk’s debut has remained an important touchstone in the history of Underground Rock was it’s single “Slack Motherfucker”. At this time, the term Slacker conjured images of Richard Linklater’s indie film of Austin Eccentrics alongside Ethan Hawke’s sly, Reality Bitten goatee. What Superchunk Singer-Guitarist Mac McCaughan added to the Slacker connotation was some enthusiastic swearing launched over a mess of tangled guitar strings. And so began a career for four young folks from North Carolina, that now sees the band reforming in their twentieth year, releasing an excellent EP, and performing at Coachella.
The most enduring Superchunk line-up has featured de-facto leader McCaughan, Laura Ballance (Bass), Jim Wilbur (Guitar), and Jon Wurster (Drums). The band proceeded to issue albums through the Matador Records imprint but gradually saw Merge Records, the label that Mac and Laura had started, begin to evolve into something far bigger than its humble start. In 1995 the band began putting out music on Merge, and continued to do so until taking an ‘extended’ hiatus in the early 2000’s. ‘No band’ still meant busy times for Mac and Laura as Merge, thanks to successful acts Spoon and Arcade Fire, had grown into one of the worlds most successful independent record labels.
Superchunk’s Learned To Surf EP is a short, sweet summation of the band’s best sounds. The hooks are myriad in number, soaring volume and energy rife with crashing power chords and frosted by seething feedback. It is hard to say where this one falls compared to all the great music Superchunk has produced through the years - but it is very clear, this small set of songs is certainly as good as anything the band has done.
Note: I included Superchunk’s cover of Sebadoh’s “Brand New Love” as it was this very song that led me to Lou Barlow’s beautiful songwriting. “Learned To Surf” is acoustic and exists on the EP as this version and a full-band electric offering.
Superchunk - Brand New Love (Sebadoh Cover)
Superchunk - Learned To Surf (Acoustic)