More Songs Considered #2: “Learned to Surf” - Superchunk
“Learned to Surf (Album Version and Acoustic Demo)” - Superchunk
(Words/music: Superchunk, available on Leaves in the Gutter EP, Merge Records 2009)
Listen to “Learned to Surf” on The Hype Machine
I came around to Superchunk only after falling in love with some of their disciples. This is consistent with how I discovered a lot of music during my late teens. While I’ve always solicited recommendations from friends (and continue to do so, often in the comments section of this blog), music discovery has largely been a solitary expedition. Until I got to college and met people with a similar passion for music and a more extensive background in the things I was interested in, I started from the present era and worked backward. Even though Napster was around, the internet was largely a way I could research bands and supplement the reading and research I did through magazines and band biographies. Occasionally, I’d get a tip from a friend or the record store clerk, but largely I discovered new things by reading magazines or fanning out from one band to the next. This was how the process worked – I liked Nirvana, and they introduced me to Sonic Youth and David Bowie (and later, The Pixies, The Vaselines, and the Meat Puppets among others). I loved R.E.M., and they introduced me to The Replacements, Big Star, Patti Smith, and a ton of others. Those are the two bands with the largest domino effect. Even if they did so in a different way, The Get Up Kids had this same effect. I picked up Something to Write Home About blindly and loved it and it was, in many ways, to independent music.
Soon after getting into the ‘Kids, I ended up tracing the thread back to Superchunk. I have a specific memory of buying Here’s Where the Strings Come In during my first visit to a Newbury Comics store my freshman year of college and listening to it twice on the bus ride home after visiting my friend Ryan in Boston. I think I played songs from Here’s to Shutting Up on just about every radio show my freshman and sophomore years of college. I loved how these songs were contradictions – they were loud and intense yet simultaneously melodic and introspective. Superchunk wasn’t afraid to tweak the formula as they went as well – they could produce buzzsaw pop almost effortlessly yet weren’t afraid to try some different sounds or take chances on arrangements. Add in their unparalleled work ethic and their dedication to their ideals and I was floored. Superchunk was a band I was made to love, making it that much more heartbreaking that they started winding down right around the same time I really started to love them.
It’s now 2009 and Superchunk have reemerged with a new EP and a new single. “Learned to Surf,” the lead track from the Leaves in the Gutter EP, springs forth with the same energy that inhabits the band’s best work. I’ve listened to this song dozens of times over the past few months and I’m still in awe of the way it snaps so quickly from that opening riff into the muscular verses. Drummer Jon Wurster is the secret weapon, particularly for the way he uses his toms efficiently in the first chorus. Rather than barrel through the whole song, Wurster dances across his kit, making it sound even stronger when he hits full speed. This doesn’t sound like a band trying to recapture their golden days – this is a band that sounds completely rejuvenated and ready to contribute.
I especially love the sentiment in the chorus - “I stopped swimming and learned to surf.” At this point, Superchunk could have made ripples by reissuing their albums and touring on old material. However, true to form, it’s not merely good enough to tread water – Superchunk is back in the ocean and ready to tackle the waves. It’s a great point about the difference between surviving and remaining vital. At some point, we all feel like we’re content enough to just keep our heads above water. However, sometimes we end up in a pattern where we get used to “good enough” and lose sight of getting better. Once we hit some level of success, it’s easy to feel content and tread water for a while. In a way, that’s how this blog came about – I’ve been swimming in music for more than half of my life, and it was time that I stopped swimming and learned to surf. It means falling off my board every so often, but I feel like I’m getting better and (if nothing else) I can spot which waves I want to take in now. So I can appreciate the risk involved with learning a new trick. I should be amazed that Superchunk came back sounding as good as ever, but the band’s never been content to settle for treading water.
Merge Records will be celebrating its 20th anniversary with a five night run of concerts in Chapel Hill, NC at the end of the month, and Superchunk will be at the heart of the celebration not only because it includes Merge’s co-founders, but because they’ve set the standard for independent music over the past two decades. For someone who came around to them just a little too late last time, I’m thrilled that I’ll get to see them at XX Merge in a couple weeks and see proof in person that it’s never too late to stop swimming and learn to surf.
More on Superchunk: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm
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