After the shocking, and for many, demoralizing result of the 2016 election, "I didn't buy the silver lining some were promoting that 'well, at least art and music will be great now!', " says Superchunk co-founder and frontman Mac McCaughan. "Obviously, any sane person would gladly trade four to eight years of terrible music for not having our country dismantled to satisfy the whims of a vengeful child and his enablers." That said, good music and art still have a lot to say, and the urgency of current events gave Mac, Laura, Jim, and Jon the momentum to make something new sooner than later. "It would be strange to be in a band, at least our band, and make a record that completely ignored the surrounding circumstances that we live in and that our kids are going to grow up in." Enter What a Time to Be Alive, Superchunk's first album in over four years, out February 16, 2018, on Merge Records. It's a record, says Mac, "about a pretty dire and depressing situation but hopefully not a record that is dire and depressing to listen to." Indeed, like so much of Superchunk's music in the band's nearly three decades together, the songs on What a Time to Be Alive meet rage and anxiety head-on with the catharsis and exhilaration of loud punk fire and vulnerable pop energy. Like 2013's I Hate Music, which focused on death, loss, and the role of music in an aging life, the new record brings spirit to the frontlines of pain-it's as defiant as it is despairing, as much a call to arms as a throwing up of hands. Written almost entirely between November 2016 and February 2017, What a Time to Be Alive was recorded and mixed by Beau Sorenson, who also worked on I Hate Music. "He's possibly the first engineer we've worked with that I had to ask to turn down the guitars, " says Mac. "Not too much, though." The record also features more guest backing vocalists than any previous Superchunk album, including Sabrina Ellis (A Giant Dog, Sweet Spirit), Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee), Stephin Merritt (The Magnetic Fields), Skylar Gudasz, and David Bazan. "Part of that was wanting a feeling of community, " says Mac. "I think that's important to not be completely bummed out about everything all the time." The title track charges in first and says it all. "Every dumb racist in America saw the election as a signal to come out of their holes, " says Mac (You brushed your teeth and found your calling / at the bottom of a swamp / There was no air but to be clear / darkness was all you wanted). "The country was built on white supremacy, and these people want to undo any incremental progress that has been made. It is frightening and enough to make you nuts." The record travels through the ensuing shock and chaos, from the pointed Fuck Yous ("Bad Choices, " "Cloud of Hate, " "All for You") to the What Nows ("Lost My Brain, " "Break the Glass"). Merritt and Crutchfield join on "Erasure, " a resonant confrontation of the objective and consequences of fear and hatred wimp. "One goal of a bigot is to erase the history, experience, and existence of anyone they perceive to be 'other' than them, " says Mac. "It makes creating your own vision of reality so much easier..." Despite the album's driving force, it would be a mistake to call the album political, which suggests it has anything to do with parties, policy, or anything that can be broken down into a rational difference of opinion. "We're not trying to offer policy solutions in the confines of a three-minute song, " says Mac. "It's about 'how do you live / not go crazy' in the current climate when it seems like every day there's a new outrage being perpetrated."
P**N
What better Album Title and Cover Artwork ...
in the year of COVID! The 2018 record happens to also be good punk rock!
M**G
Early frontrunner for Album of the Year! Struggling to ...
Early frontrunner for Album of the Year! Struggling to make sense of our poisonous political climate seems an impossible task but Superchunk have created a modern day masterpiece! Scorching guitars, a thundering rhythm section and Mac McCaughan's impassioned voice propel every hook-filled gem. This is the type of album that restores your faith in Rock 'n' Roll - Long Live Superchunk!
A**S
Best political record of 2018
It's sad that in the age of Trump a band from the 90s is writing the best political record of 2018, yet that's what happened.
D**T
Five Stars
Just what I needed.
R**E
Five Stars
Extremely 2017-2020 Mood.
C**O
Five Stars
Great album.
L**R
this album is simply terrific. I'm quite sure the band and I would ...
As a republican, I approach this album on two sides of a coin. On the one hand, I obviously support Superchunk's freedom of expression. They can say whatever they want. That's what living in a free country affords us. On the other hand, the fact that I disagree with the bands politics' somewhat distracts from an otherwise neutral listen.That is until you actually hear this absolutely scorcher of an album. The hooks are extreme, the guitars crunch, and the playing is so tight, that I hope Trump wins another four years in the hopes that this inspires them even more! In all seriousness, this album is simply terrific.I'm quite sure the band and I would have a great time out for beers, so we can agree to disagree, and still coexist. Highly recommended, and not to be missed. Buy it now.
C**R
quick bursts of indie rock that’s both fun and meaningful
On their 11th album since 1990, these North Carolina indie rock icons sound as fresh & motivated as they did on their first single, attacking the songs with the vitality of teenage exhuberance. These are short, sweet and succinct rockers; raucous & raw pop/punk melodies with infectious hooks. Contributions come from members of magnetic Fields, Waxahatchee, A Giant Dog. Members have played with Seam, Portastatic, The Mountain Goats. Recalls bands like Redd Kross, Archers Of Loaf, Weezer, Nada Surf, Jeff The Brotherhood, Scrawl, GRMLN. The songs punch you in the face with rockin’, pertinent messages of politics, love and the mess we’ve made of humankind. “What A Time To Be Alive” finds Superchunk back at the top of their game, churning out quick bursts of indie rock that’s both fun and meaningful. Recommended.
C**O
Tudo correu certo, envio, embalagem e produto tudo ok
Tudo correu certo, envio, embalagem e produto tudo ok
山**也
かなり爆音が効いており良い出来！
ほぼ5年ぶりの新作リリースらしいが年を重ねたと言い、いまだキレある、はじけたできであり、安心した。
K**M
Mac Is Mad As Hell!
I remember seeing live footage of Mac and the band (back in 2008) celebrating at Obama’s inauguration rally and the man’s reaction to recent political events is nicely summed up in what is a powerfully charged new album. With its ironic, double-meaning title, What A Time To Be Alive is both Mac at his angriest and at his lyrically most straightforward – gone are his hitherto elliptical tales to be replaced with in-your-face directness on songs like Lost My Brain, Bad Choices, I Got Cut and Cloud of Hate. And what is, of course, most important for us long-time Chunk fans is that the man has penned as strong and urgent a set of songs – peppered in trademark fashion with typically punchy guitar riffs and catchy choruses – since (arguably) the great No Pocky For Kitty, now almost three decades ago! Each of the album title song, Break The Glass, Dead Photographers, Reagan Youth and All For You are prime examples of the band at their most typical (and greatest) whilst album highlight Erasure stands comparison with the likes of Seed Toss and Cast Iron (as well as featuring The Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt on backing vocals). And, in typical fashion, album closer Black Thread provides another more restrained, but still heartfelt plea, in the same vein as Everything At Once and What Can We Do from the previous two albums. A memorable close to a memorable album.
L**N
What a time...
I will not say this is a classic as we heard this kind of punkrock/pop before… this is the US way doing it btw but its good, cheerful, well produced and thought provoking lyrics (for some) or fun confirmation of ones ideas about politics and life to others. If you like this kind of music its a secure one to get. If not have anyone in this kind of music style why not start with this as its that good.. but to rate it a 5 star I want some more totally personal in style or very very good musicians. But they sure aint bad and to me lyrics is top notch and music is ok... 4 and 1/2
M**O
Grazie Donald!
Se l'elezione di Donald Trump nel 2016 ci ha portato un nuovo album dei Superchunk, e di questo livello, forse in fondo non ci è andata male. Sicuramente tra i migliori album del 2018, e uno dei più belli della band di Chapel Hill.
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