Cup Of Sand

I'm assuming this import version is the same as the one I got made in Canada, technically, an import I guess. Both have 25 trax.What's for certain is SUPERCHUNK has shown us what many of our favorite bands could do: cull songs they gave to compilations and b-sides and other sources and pile 'em all onto an album, in this case, a 2xCD.They already did it 10 or so years earlier in Incidental Music which I find to be their finest release just full of classic SUPERCHUNK songs.I guess SUPERCHUNK's last record was 2001. This then, with a 2003 release date, is doing us fans a big favor cuz without it'd take a lot 'o effort to try to track down there various trax. It's real fun hearing their cover of Scary Monsters. Very excellent cover. Fully in the SUPERCHUNK sound yet it's that cool Bowie song.I call this band my meat and potatoes band. It's what I listen to when I'm like not digging on something in particular like IGGY or BAD BRAINS or the BOBS or TOM WAITS or JIMI. These guys bring it home. Yes, it's that double guitar, the cool vocals and the fact that they can write some songs that really get it together. This is probably my second favorite record right after Incidental Music.X did an anthology similar to this. 2xCD full of some live trax, some trax from compilations, b-sides and other songs never released or versions.There's an unofficial Tales of the Underground set of 5 CD's by TOM WAITS that goes a step further and pulls together such songs as well as songs he did on the records of other people. It's a great service to the fans and sometimes allows us to track down those records and go get 'em.I wish more bands did this sort of thing. If there's this many songs by those 3 groups not otherwise released or hard to find, who knows how many other cool songs are also out there somewhere of bands we really like but just can't get our hands on obsurely released songs.What's really amazing is that the 2 releases SUPERCHUNK did like this both are just packed with great songs of theirs. Whew. chrisbct@hotmail.com

One of the nice things about Superchunk's singles and EPs is that you know the B-sides are going to be good. Not content to throw on a muffed studio take or a tossed-off live version, the band instead includes songs that stand on their own merits every bit as well (and sometimes better) than album cuts.For completists or those who don't want to track down all the singles (a few of which are vinyl only), this is a great way to fill in the gaps. And it's pretty revelatory if you were a bit disappointed in the pace and production of "Indoor Living" or "Come Pick Me Up." Songs like "Her Royal Fisticuffs," "The Majestic" and "The Mine Has Been Returned To It's Original Owner" crackle with life. The loping "Fader Rules" appears in all its Tom Petty-conjuring glory. Fun covers of David Bowie, Adam Ant and Government Issue add some extra kick to this indie-rock curry. And "Becoming a Speck," "Clover," and "The Hot Break" shouldn't be missed by any serious Superchunk fan.It's not exhaustive -- the superlative acoustic renditions from the "Hello Hawk" and "Driveway to Driveway" EPs are still AWOL, the wonderful Failure cover off the limited ed. "Laughter Guns" EP and a few others that deserve wider exposure remain missing. Perhaps we'll see them on future collections?

Their third album of collections of singles, b-sides, songs that appeared on compliations and so on. There's definitely a lot here and scattered amongst the 2 cds are some of the songs that do or very nearly do match their strongest songs on their 5 albums that I consider to be their best: incidental music, foolish, no pocky for kitty, mouth to mouth and indoor living. I don't listen to this that often while I consistently listen to those 5 over the last 2 years I've owned them. I like this collection of songs as a bit of an exploration into other almost high quality songs they have. It's got less power, less dominating 2 guitar sound and less emotionality in most of the songs. After getting their 90's albums I had to get all of their records cuz, who knew if there was more greatness they'd done. Turns out, this collection is sort of the transition record. I find disc two to have more yummy songs than disc one and it's real fun to hear them cover Scary Monsters. Yeah, disc two is almost like it's own album, distinctly stronger than disc one. Ok, on listening to cup of sand I've decided disc two is like the secret 6th best of 6 albums of theirs. Good news is, on Amazon.com you can pick this guy up rather inexpensively and you may find something you like on disc one. My favorite 5 of theirs is: incidental music, foolish, no pocky for kitty, on the mouth and indoor living. I love these guys, just not every song.

Pop Kulcher Review: This is Superchunk's second collection of b-sides and rarities (third if you count the early singles collection), and like the last one (Incidental Music 1991-1995), it's actually slightly better than most of their standard album releases. Superchunk's blast of power-pop-infused punk has always played out better on their singles than over the course of an entire album; even their best albums seem padded out with some filler tracks. So while a collection like this naturally includes a fair number of throwaway tracks -- and, to be honest, there are only a small number of veritable Superchunk classics over the course of this double-cd set -- they're at least tracks that are meant to stand or fall in 3 minutes or less. So you've got a non-stop barrage of stand-alone thrashings, and you may not like them all, or even most of them, but it's still fun to fly through 'em. Although most of these date from the past few years, when 'Chunk's albums were hewing more to a power-pop landscape, there are a surprising number of songs more reminiscent of the frenzied punk sound of their earlier work. Anyway, it's a b-side collection from a band I've always ranked a bit behind most of the indie rock stalwarts of the 90's, so take it for what it's worth, but taken in that light it's a damn fun listen.

... pour cet excellent et comme tout les autres albums de Superchunk . Si quelqu'un pouvait leur communiquer le souhait de retrouver l'édition vinyle de "Here's to shutting up" , merci d'avance Et vivement le prochain album .