Come Pick Me Up

Superchunk | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 10, 1999)
• Original Release Date: August 10, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Merge Records
• ASIN: B00000JMBO
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #94,590 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

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 McGonigal

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Goodness gracious, May 18, 2000

By 

G. L. Jones "luke" (Portland,OR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Come Pick Me Up (Audio CD)

At one point I thought there would never be another Superchunk album as good as Foolish, then the next album came out, then the next, and now this. (more or less) If I had a two disc changer in my car it would click between Tossing Seeds and Come Pick Me Up. If you feel the energy is lost in the new music you just aren't listening. When the horns (yes, horns) come in, when the lyrics are accompanied by the strings (yes, strings), it is absolutely astounding. I love nothing more than to go nuts when Precision Auto comes on the jukebox, but the songs on the new album take the cake.

If you find yourself wandering around singing "If you leave this coast..." then you are going to go absolutely spastic when you hear these new songs. Absolutely spastic.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If not their best, damn near it..., March 25, 2008

By 

T. N. Baier - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Come Pick Me Up (MP3 Download)

Some people seem to want a band to continually sound the same over their career, while others decry them for doing so. Sure this record is "less edge-y" than most of their previous work, but who cares? Who wants "Foolish II" or whatever? Superchunk started changing things up at the right time in their career and this record shows that they're not a one trick band. Its full of strong melodies and more delicate arrangements (for them) and is a great record to drive to. Highly recommended.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really Nice, October 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Come Pick Me Up (Audio CD)

Guided by Voices new album came with a sticker that said "the last great album of the millenium". Were they ever wrong, this is way better than GBV. Mac's singing is really good on this one. The best tracks are 1,2,3,4,5,7. The strongest stuff is at the beginning so it's kinda unbalanced. The whole album is good though. Really Nice instrumentation. "Tiny bombs send bigger waves...." that sends shivers down my spine. Beautifull.