JOHNNY SPICE PRESENTS BACK OF THE CLOSET
Sometimes, no matter how good a record is, it just works its way out of our
listening rotation for whatever reason, in this space I’m going to review some
great albums that for some reason have fallen to the “Back of The Closet.”
First up, the album that makes me want to write about music, the self-titled
LP by Superchunk. I still remember how I first hear of Superchunk and how I
came to own this album.
When I was in high school I was a regular reader of Rolling Stone Magazine,
especially the reviews, and I still remember the day like it was yesterday, in
the issue we were reading at school, there was a review for a different
Superchunk LP, “Tossing Seeds (Singles 89-91)”. Not only did the review
make it sound like a record I had to had, but one particular ditty had a title
that caught my eye. When the weekend came, I went down to “Mother’s
Music” in Patchogue (RIP my first indie record store, you’ll never be
forgotten) and attempted to purchase, “Tossing Seeds” but alas, they did not
have it in stock. But, the song I was looking for was on another record, this
particular record, so I bought it. 20+ years later, I would honestly say,
Superchunk is one of the two bands I call my favorite (I’ll address the other
band that shares that title in a future back of the closet), and ever since that
day I’ve wanted to write about every piece of good music I hear in the hopes
that someday I can have the same impact on somebody’s life.
Now, to the album.
“Finger on my pulse / I’ve got my finger in the socket / Why build a cradle /
If you don’t plan to rock it” The first four line of the first track, the classic
“Sick to Move,” a song that sets the mood right away. Guitars on the verge of
being out of tune, a pounding beat that makes you unsure of whether you
want to dance or bash you head through a wall and some of the trademark
Mac McCaughan vocal styling’s that all Superchunk fans love.
“My Noise,” probably my favorite original Superchunk song (Stephin Merritt
should just admit “100,000 Fireflies,” belongs to them now, but that’s a