{"id":4564,"date":"2025-08-18T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/reliably-explosive-mac-mccaughan-on-36-years-of-superchunk\/"},"modified":"2025-08-18T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T13:00:00","slug":"reliably-explosive-mac-mccaughan-on-36-years-of-superchunk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/reliably-explosive-mac-mccaughan-on-36-years-of-superchunk\/","title":{"rendered":"Reliably Explosive: Mac McCaughan on 36 Years of Superchunk"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/08\/Superchunk-by-Alex-Cox-1.jpeg\" width=\"\" height=\"\" alt=\"Superchunk. (Credit: Alex Cox)\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWhen we\u2019re writing a song or recording a song, I think we have a pretty good internal quality control of, \u2018Is this good?\u2019 or \u2018Is this exciting?\u2019 versus \u2018This feels forced\u2019 or \u2018This doesn\u2019t feel natural,\u2019 \u201d Mac McCaughan says, explaining how Superchunk have, maybe consciously or maybe not, maintained their high musical standards across 36 years.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re sitting outside Gray Squirrel Coffee Co. in Carrboro, North Carolina, just a few doors down from Cat\u2019s Cradle, the storied Chapel Hill venue that has hosted many a Superchunk show since their earliest days. In fact, the club has been a constant in McCaughan\u2019s musical life for even longer\u2014he\u2019s played there with his high school band, his pre-Superchunk projects, and of course, countless times with Superchunk at the Cradle\u2019s various incarnations over the decades.<\/p>\n<p>More from Spin:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/08\/mtv-vma-performers\/\">First MTV VMA Performers Include Sabrina, Busta<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/08\/john-power-explains-how-cast-landed-the-most-coveted-support-slot-in-music\/\">John Power Explains How Cast Landed the Most Coveted Support Slot in Music<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/08\/5-albums-i-cant-live-without-steve-jones-of-the-sex-pistols\/\">5 Albums I Can\u2019t Live Without: Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It\u2019s fitting that we\u2019re discussing Superchunk\u2019s new album, <em>Songs in the Key of Yikes<\/em>, within earshot of one of their most frequented stages. After almost four decades, the North Carolina indie rock stalwarts remain one of those rare bands where the consensus, amongst both critics and longtime fans, is that their recent material rivals their beloved catalog\u2014no small feat when that catalog includes classic indie albums like 1991\u2019s <em>No Pocky for Kitty<\/em> and 1994\u2019s <em>Foolish<\/em>, and indelible garage-punk anthems like \u201cSlack Motherfucker\u201d and \u201cHyper Enough.\u201d Since restarting in 2010 with <em>Majesty Shredding<\/em>, which followed a nine-year break, they\u2019ve been incredibly consistent. But that consistency is also in doing something that sounds perpetually combustible and on the verge of careening out of control. It\u2019s a beautiful juxtaposition: being reliably explosive.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/08\/Superchunk-by-Alex-Cox-2.jpeg\" alt=\"(Credit: Alex Cox)\" class=\"wp-image-470613\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/08\/Superchunk-by-Alex-Cox-2.jpeg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/08\/Superchunk-by-Alex-Cox-2-340x181.jpeg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/08\/Superchunk-by-Alex-Cox-2-768x410.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/08\/Superchunk-by-Alex-Cox-2-498x266.jpeg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Credit: Alex Cox)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>McCaughan identifies this combustible quality as essential to punk rock itself. \u201cIf something feels too tightly wound, it loses a little bit of energy,\u201d he explains. \u201cWhen you hear \u2018Neat Neat Neat\u2019 by the Damned, or \u2018That\u2019s How I Escaped My Certain Fate\u2019 by Mission of Burma, you\u2019re just like, \u2018Oh my god, are they even gonna finish this song? This sounds insane.\u2019 You can\u2019t try to do that, but you can kind of hope to achieve that energy. You probably can\u2019t get there on every recording or every performance, but when you can, it\u2019s beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That sense of barely contained energy permeates <em>Songs in the Key of Yikes<\/em>, which serves as both a sonic departure from its predecessor and a pointed response to our current moment. Where 2022\u2019s <em>Wild Loneliness<\/em> was largely recorded in McCaughan\u2019s basement studio during lockdown\u2014\u201cone member at a time because of the pandemic,\u201d he says\u2014the new album represents a return to their full-throttle approach. The shift was partly inspired by new addition Laura King, \u201ca hard-hitting punk-rock drummer\u201d whose presence gave the band fresh musical direction.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the record is a little bit of a reaction to having to make <em>Wild Loneliness<\/em> under lockdown conditions,\u201d McCaughan explains. The previous album had \u201ca cool character that\u2019s its own,\u201d but was quieter, and as a result more acoustic-focused. Recording at Sonark Media outside Chapel Hill allowed for a different approach. \u201cThe idea of being able to make a real rock record again was very appealing.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/08\/Superchunk-Songs-In-The-Key-Of-Yikes-_-Album-Art.jpg\" alt=\"Credit: Scott Reeder\" class=\"wp-image-470538\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/08\/Superchunk-Songs-In-The-Key-Of-Yikes-_-Album-Art.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/08\/Superchunk-Songs-In-The-Key-Of-Yikes-_-Album-Art-340x340.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/08\/Superchunk-Songs-In-The-Key-Of-Yikes-_-Album-Art-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/08\/Superchunk-Songs-In-The-Key-Of-Yikes-_-Album-Art-498x498.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Credit:\u00a0Scott Reeder)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Lyrically, <em>Songs in the Key of Yikes<\/em> functions as what McCaughan calls \u201ca check-in\u201d on our collective mental health. \u201cHow\u2019s everyone doing?\u201d he asks rhetorically. \u201cWhat are we all doing to not lose our minds in this era? First of all, there\u2019s still a pandemic. Second of all, fascism is on the rise. It\u2019s a real test for everyone\u2019s mental health.\u201d The album\u2019s song titles\u2014\u201cNo Hope,\u201d \u201cBruised Lung,\u201d \u201cCare Less,\u201d \u201cEverybody Dies\u201d\u2014might sound pessimistic, but McCaughan sees them as part of a necessary balancing act. \u201cWhat things do you let go of in order to not just be obsessing about them? And what things do you invest more time in trying to repair or address?\u201d Amid all this heaviness, the album\u2019s first single, \u201cIs It Making You Feel Something,\u201d steps back to offer meta-commentary on the creative act itself, suggesting that in dark times, perhaps emotional connection is sufficient. \u201cDon\u2019t overthink things,\u201d McCaughan explains. \u201cDon\u2019t ask a song to do too much. If it is making you feel something, then maybe that\u2019s enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This pragmatic approach to both coping and creative output reflects how Superchunk has evolved over the years. In the \u201990s, McCaughan recalls, \u201cthe band was really our day job. We still work at it when we\u2019re doing it, it\u2019s still a job to some extent, but it\u2019s not our only job. So there\u2019s less pressure.\u201d That reduced pressure has been freeing: \u201cWe\u2019re just doing stuff that we think is gonna be fun for us and fun for people coming to the shows.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>McCaughan splits his time between Superchunk and running Merge Records, the label he and bassist Laura Ballance co-founded in 1989 that\u2019s become one of indie rock\u2019s most respected imprints, releasing landmark albums by everyone from Neutral Milk Hotel and Magnetic Fields to Arcade Fire and Spoon. \u201cWhen we\u2019re not on tour or in the studio, that\u2019s pretty much what I\u2019m doing,\u201d he says of his label work. A recent partnership with Secretly Group has expanded their operation, allowing McCaughan to maintain the artist-run identity that\u2019s been central to Merge\u2019s mission while still being able to take the Superchunk show on the road.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"892\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/08\/Superchunk-by-Alex-Cox-3.jpg\" alt=\"(Credit:\u00a0Scott Reeder)\" class=\"wp-image-470611\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/08\/Superchunk-by-Alex-Cox-3.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/08\/Superchunk-by-Alex-Cox-3-340x253.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/08\/Superchunk-by-Alex-Cox-3-768x571.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/08\/Superchunk-by-Alex-Cox-3-498x370.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Credit:\u00a0Scott Reeder)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cHaving great people that I\u2019m working with allows me to go on tour for a couple weeks,\u201d he explains. \u201cI think that\u2019s also important to the identity of the label, because bands that we\u2019re working with and other bands know that it\u2019s an artist-run label.\u201d In an era where label identity has largely dissolved, Merge has maintained a recognizable aesthetic and ethos. \u201cWe don\u2019t just put out guitar-based indie rock records anymore,\u201d McCaughan notes, \u201cbut hopefully everything that we do still makes sense that it\u2019s on Merge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That artist-run philosophy extends to how Superchunk approaches live performances, navigating the expectations that come with being a legacy act while still prioritizing new material. \u201cWhen we play shows, there\u2019s young people and then there\u2019s people that have been coming to see us since the early \u201990s,\u201d McCaughan observes. \u201cPeople want to hear the songs that they love and are familiar with, but you want people to want to hear the new songs also.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The band embraces both sides of their timeline\u2014they\u2019ll celebrate milestones like the 30th anniversary of <em>Foolish<\/em>, which they marked last year with a run of live shows that focused heavily on the record, but they also load their setlists with recent material. \u201cI remember when we were touring for [2018\u2019s] <em>What a Time to Be Alive<\/em>, we played a lot of that record in those sets, and the audience was great with that,\u201d McCaughan says. He\u2019s also genuinely inspired by other long-running acts who\u2019ve maintained their vitality. \u201cI went to see Bow Wow Wow last year,\u201d he continues. \u201cI love seeing bands that I grew up with and maybe didn\u2019t get to see at the time. Last time I saw Psychedelic Furs, I think it had been maybe a 35-year gap, and they were amazing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This consideration reflects Superchunk\u2019s current outlook. At 36 years in, they\u2019re not under pressure to play shows, or even make records. \u201cWhen we do, it can be on our own terms and be what we want it to be,\u201d McCaughan explains. \u201cBy the same token, because we\u2019ve been doing it for so long, if we\u2019re gonna go through the trouble, it should be good. It should be worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2021\/07\/the-greatest-rock-stars-of-all-time\/?utm_source=yahoo&amp;utm_medium=bottomlink&amp;utm_campaign=yahoolink\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cWhen we\u2019re writing a song or recording a song, I think we have a pretty good internal quality control of, \u2018Is this good?\u2019 or \u2018Is this exciting?\u2019 versus \u2018This feels&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,24,1262],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-pushly","category-superchunk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4564\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}