Superchunk - Come Pick Me Up
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Music CD Cover
Artist: SuperchunkEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1999-08-10
Music Label: Merge Records
Soundtracks:
- So Convinced
- Hello Hawk
- Cursed Mirror
- 1000 Pounds
- Good Dreams
- Low Branches
- Pink Clouds
- Smarter Hearts
- Honey Bee
- June Showers
- Pulled Muscle
- Tiny Bombs
- You Can Always Count on Me (In the Worst Way)
Free Music Notes for Come Pick Me Up
Free Music Review: A grower
Hit: 3 Stars
This is a tough one for me... I'd say I'm a pretty avowed Superchunk fan, ever since I wandered into a record store and bought "Tossing Seeds" and "No Pocky For Kitty" on a whim. Few other American indie-rock bands have so consistently pushed the songwriting and playing envelope, so consistently been catchy without being cloying.
By the time "Come Pick Me Up" came out, I was familiarized with many of the songs from the EPs and singles that preceded it. "Pink Clouds," "Low Branches," "Hello Hawk," "1,000 Pounds," "Cursed Mirror..." a substantial part of the album had trickled into my ears and found homes, albeit as acoustic versions in several cases.
I was always a little surprised that "Indoor Living" was so coolly received. Though there were some slow moments, I LOVED that record, even songwriting left-turns like "Marquee" and the Morrissey-esque "Every Single Instinct." It was thick with textures and inspired lyrics. The promise implied by a collaboration with Jim O'Rourke (and the fantastic acoustic EPs) did not prepare me for the starchiness of a lot of "Come Pick Me Up."
This is certainly not to say I was unmoved by "So Convinced" and "Good Dreams," but a lot of the midtempo numbers -- and especially the aforementioned songs which had been rendered as lively acoustic versions previously -- seemed, well, OVER-rehearsed. A little stiff. "Low Branches" went from affecting and full of pathos to clunky, jerky, and breathless. "Cursed Mirror" got an electric overhaul and tempo-shift that didn't damage the core song nearly so much, just made it seem perfunctory. And "Pink Clouds..." (shudder) traded its emotional connection for a lackluster full-band performance. And some rather tacked-on horns that, honestly, could have been way more effective as guitars. Superchunk as the E-Street band is not an appetizing thought. Except for 4 tracks, the energy on this record is pretty low and the mixing does nothing to offset that, pushing Mac's most falsetto vocals (to date) way up front and sublimating most of the guitar grime into poppy chiming. Strong words? Yes, but this is a group that had never really disappointed me before.
It's always been my conviction that the people who thought this album was the second coming of "Foolish" must not have heard the EPs until later.
All that tossing around of old laundry aside, the more understated songs that I was too disappointed or distracted to hear on their own terms in 1999 have slowly eroded my defensiveness. While I sincerely think "Come Pick Me Up" could have been cut down to an excellent EP-length release -- and a few full-band versions could have been shelved for "Cup of Sand II" or something -- there is some great songwriting and genuine uplift to be found in the glacially-paced "Smarter Hearts," the sparky throwback "June Showers," and the slightly goofy "Pulled Muscle" (which boasts both an odd, Christmas-themed narrative and a very old-school riff in its lovably shambolic arrangement).
So, over-rehearsed, underwritten, whatever. "Come Pick Me Up" has stood up better than I thought it would. It's still low on my list in the Superchunk canon, a somewhat unrealized diamond-in-the-rough that grows on me despite my clearcut misgivings with it.
Come Pick Me Up Poster
On Come Pick Me Up, Superchunk's signature buzzy, excitable, poppy, Muppet-punk wail has mellowed and developed within a genre that typically crumbles with age. It helps that the North Carolina quartet has always celebrated the simple, Raymond Carver-ish pleasures of life--front porches, cast-iron chairs, spooning one's lover, "the clutter that is everyday." Singer-songwriter and guitarist Mac McCaughan has a firm ability to achieve nonhackneyed sentimentality inside mini-anthems that revolve around the repetition of simple melodies. It's a straightforward formula the band rarely strays from--there are the rocking songs and the mellow ones and both sound cool. Gone are the gerbil wails; Mr. Mac reveals a formidable, understated, whispery singing style throughout the disc. "Good Dreams" is a tightly coiled, guitar-driven rave-up which explodes into sugary melodies wrapped around the image "Hold me all night, give me good dreams." The other winning element on Come Pick Me Up is the classy, urbane production of Jim O'Rourke, who enlists various Chicago all-stars on cello, violin, sax, trumpet, and trombone. Mixed down low, the accompaniment slides unobtrusively into the group's sound. Blisteringly rocking and unassailably tasteful, you can file Superchunk's seventh album in that thin bin marked "punk rockers who've aged gracefully". --Mike McGonigalAlternative Rock Music CDs
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