Customer Reviews

Cup of Sand

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One of the nice things about Superchunk's singles and EPs is that you know the B-sides are going to be good. Not content to throw on a muffed studio take or a tossed-off live version, the band instead includes songs that stand on their own merits every bit as well (and sometimes better) than album cuts.

For completists or those who don't want to track down all the singles (a few of which are vinyl only), this is a great way to fill in the gaps. And it's pretty revelatory if you were a bit disappointed in the pace and production of "Indoor Living" or "Come Pick Me Up." Songs like "Her Royal Fisticuffs," "The Majestic" and "The Mine Has Been Returned To It's Original Owner" crackle with life. The loping "Fader Rules" appears in all its Tom Petty-conjuring glory. Fun covers of David Bowie, Adam Ant and Government Issue add some extra kick to this indie-rock curry. And "Becoming a Speck," "Clover," and "The Hot Break" shouldn't be missed by any serious Superchunk fan.

It's not exhaustive -- the superlative acoustic renditions from the "Hello Hawk" and "Driveway to Driveway" EPs are still AWOL, the wonderful Failure cover off the limited ed. "Laughter Guns" EP and a few others that deserve wider exposure remain missing. Perhaps we'll see them on future collections?

The only drawback to B-side collections is that when you discover a song that's really, really good, you wonder why the band didn't put IT on the album it was recorded for and leave off some of the garbage they DID put on the album. And so it is with Cup of Sand. "The Majestic," "Reg" and "With Bells On" are amazing songs that somehow didn't make the cut for Indoor Living; I think they're better than practically anything on Side Two of that album. And "Her Royal Fisticuffs" deserved better than languishing on an EP. Cup of Sand also collects some fun covers, acoustic versions of much-loved tracks like "Detroit Has a Skyline" and various songs that definitely DIDN'T deserve a spot on an album proper. The accompanying booklet is very meaty, as all four band members weigh in with their memories (or lack thereof) of each track.

Pop Kulcher Review: This is Superchunk's second collection of b-sides and rarities (third if you count the early singles collection), and like the last one (Incidental Music 1991-1995), it's actually slightly better than most of their standard album releases. Superchunk's blast of power-pop-infused punk has always played out better on their singles than over the course of an entire album; even their best albums seem padded out with some filler tracks. So while a collection like this naturally includes a fair number of throwaway tracks -- and, to be honest, there are only a small number of veritable Superchunk classics over the course of this double-cd set -- they're at least tracks that are meant to stand or fall in 3 minutes or less. So you've got a non-stop barrage of stand-alone thrashings, and you may not like them all, or even most of them, but it's still fun to fly through 'em. Although most of these date from the past few years, when 'Chunk's albums were hewing more to a power-pop landscape, there are a surprising number of songs more reminiscent of the frenzied punk sound of their earlier work. Anyway, it's a b-side collection from a band I've always ranked a bit behind most of the indie rock stalwarts of the 90's, so take it for what it's worth, but taken in that light it's a damn fun listen.

Overall there are a lot of songs on the two disk set that I consider mediocre compared to the rest of Superchunk's stuff. That said, the acoustic version of "Detroit Has a Skyline" alone makes the disc worth purchasing. I'd recommend this as a gift for fans of the band, if you're looking for a first exposure to their music I'd look to some of the earlier releases.

Their third album of collections of singles, b-sides, songs that appeared on compliations and so on. There's definitely a lot here and scattered amongst the 2 cds are some of the songs that do or very nearly do match their strongest songs on their 5 albums that I consider to be their best: incidental music, foolish, no pocky for kitty, mouth to mouth and indoor living. I don't listen to this that often while I consistently listen to those 5 over the last 2 years I've owned them. I like this collection of songs as a bit of an exploration into other almost high quality songs they have. It's got less power, less dominating 2 guitar sound and less emotionality in most of the songs. After getting their 90's albums I had to get all of their records cuz, who knew if there was more greatness they'd done. Turns out, this collection is sort of the transition record. I find disc two to have more yummy songs than disc one and it's real fun to hear them cover Scary Monsters. Yeah, disc two is almost like it's own album, distinctly stronger than disc one. Ok, on listening to cup of sand I've decided disc two is like the secret 6th best of 6 albums of theirs. Good news is, on Amazon.com you can pick this guy up rather inexpensively and you may find something you like on disc one. My favorite 5 of theirs is: incidental music, foolish, no pocky for kitty, on the mouth and indoor living. I love these guys, just not every song.

Okay, the first cd is a little slow and I am biased cuz' I already had most of the songs but the second cd is really great. Two of my faves, the cover of Adam Ant's "Beat My Guest" and the Bowie cover: "Scarry Monsters". "Becoming A Speck" is more of the classic Punk-esque `Chunk. If your a fan of the greatest band in the world, then you'd enjoy this cd.