ARTIST: Superchunk
TITLE: On the Mouth
YEAR RELEASED: 1993
CHART ACTION: None
SINGLES: Mower, The Question Is How Fast, Precision Auto
OTHER SONGS YOU MAY KNOW: Don’t think so
LINEUP: Mac McCaughan, Laura Ballance, Jim Wilbur, Jon Wurster
WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: Superchunk’s third album solidifies and diversifies their sound and becomes college radio favorites.
SOME WORDS, PHRASES AND CLAUSES ABOUT THIS RECORD: Cracking out of the gate with “Precision Auto”, an MTV 120 Minutes staple, Superchunk’s third album has a lot of attitude and spirit that made them beloved around the country. But it wasn’t all loud and fast.
They changed up at times, with brooding cuts like “Swallow That” and “Mower”, and the varied, pop-in-its-way “The Question Is How Fast” and “I Guess I Remembered It Wrong”. That’s a positive step, since they were running low of variations in the loud and fast category. Some of the faster tracks seem like they’re repeating previous ideas
New drummer Jon Wurster gave them a more versatile drummer that helped them when they changed from pure punk adrenaline. It’s a shame that not every song is as consistently good as in their previous record but the highlights are among their best.
NOTES & MINUTIAE: The ‘title track’ was a B-side on the “Mower” single.
IS THERE A DELUXE VERSION: No\
GRADE: A-: The best songs, I love. I do think it runs out of gas when it comes to the punkier songs.