Album Review

Leave it to Merge Records head honcho and Superchunk vet Mac McCaughan to label a two disc set of rarities a “small history.” In the music world, most peeps would consider an eight song album, an EP, or perhaps even an extended length single a “small history.” A double disc set comprised of 44 songs - that’s an entire career for most bands.

What you get here is a bunch of stuff that didn’t make it onto Portastatic (basically Mac’s solo project) albums proper, or just popped up on random seven inches, collections, etc. Of course, since Mac was working full-time with Superchunk when most of these songs were recorded, one has to also take into consideration that many of these songs were at least at some point destined for a ‘Chunk album.

Let’s examine disc one first. Some songs, such as the gritty “Too Trashed To Smoke” go way back. In this case, all the way to 1990, pre-dating Mac even adopting the title “Portastatic” for his solo musical endeavors. This, along with “Starter” sound more Superchunk-ish than anything Superchunk released post Here’s Where The Strings Come In. The pair are comforting in their vintage, fuzzy yelped vocals appeal. Sounding much more akin to recent Portastatic fare (basically like a kick-ass pop-savvy bar-band) “Skinny Glasses Girl” is a definite highlight and shows how well Mac can ride a hook once he crafts it. Leaning more towards acoustic singer-songwriter territory are the excellent “Josephine” (which has apparently even popped up in ‘Chunk sets over the years,) the sparse “Race You Home,” and the melancholy “Your Own Cloud” - the last of which may have actually been recorded the day Kurt Cobain died. Disc one is rounded out by a splattering of covers including a very hi-fidelity shot at “Oh My Sweet Carolina,” by Ryan Adams, an uber-ironic mellow acoustic take on “Teenage Kicks,” and an equally rootsy version of “When Loves Break Down” by Prefab Sprout.

Disc two is basically more of the same, but for once that is a good thing! “Dragging a Cow” sounds like an early 90’s Superchunk outtake. It’s a sludgy rocker reminiscent of On The Mouth’s “Swallow That.” The standout original for me on this side has to be “Codes Runes Dunes,” which is apparently about the stubborn locals in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It’s a very scrappy effort held in place by an acoustic line not too far removed from something Robert Pollard would come up with. The drums are out of whack at times and the keyboards are certainly far from Wakeman-esque, but still, this song is basically perfect. Yet more proof that nothing beats the magical intimacy of a lo-fi recording to really capture a moment. The fantastic parade of covers continues on this second disc as well with standouts being an absolutely killer take on Hot Chip’s “And I Was a Boy From School,” as well a fittingly beautiful stab at Galaxie 500’s “Tugboat.”

Forty four songs is without a doubt ridiculous for a single release. Even more absurd is the fact that you can download an additional 11 song “Third Disc” for free at the Merge Records site. But wait, order now and you‘ll receive…actually, no, that is it. It is so much music for so little that it does begin to sound a bit like an infommercial, though. Sometimes it’s tough to dive into something like this because it’s so damn overwhelming, and you know it’s going to take a good three or four listens before you even begin to get a grasp of a quarter of the material. All I can say is that if you are into Mac’s songs, give this a chance. It pays hefty dividends once it gets you on board, and you find that the scattershot nature of it only works to it’s advantage.