Superchunk Live @ Crystal Ballroom, Somerville MA [09-12-25]

Hey, I was a little worried about Superchunk for a while. They put out a great album Wild Loneliness, but it didn’t gain the attention I thought it would. It was excellent but “failed to hit” with some people. Then, when I saw them live at the Paradise, their show was lightly attended. Maybe the students were gone, or people were watching the big game (NBA finals!), or it was a work night, but I had expected to see more people there. Oh well, philistines, you know? Then, their drummer quit: the indefatigable Jon Wurster, a gem of a man and musician. What was going on in the Superchunk camp? Were they just having a rough go at it? Were they going to “bounce back”?

Yes to all of the above!

You can’t stop the moving train that is Superchunk. If Boston can’t recognize a good touring band when it comes, then it’s our problem (I AM BOSTON). If people can’t recognize a good album, then that’s just par for the course. Superchunk remained dynamic, recruited a new drummer in Laura King (of Bat Fangs!), and promptly did what they do best, record another kickass album Songs in the Key of Yikes, and brought it on the road.

I mentioned above that I WAS worried about Superchunk – past tense. Maybe the Paradise was the problem, because Superchunk came to town on a Friday night at one of the best venues in the area: the Crystal Ballroom in Somerville. The venue was packed and the air palpable!

Superchunk are one of the few superbands still out there: putting out great records and playing great shows still decades into their career. New drummer Laura King is a versatile, graceful and skilled drummer perfectly recreating Wurster’s drumming on past albums while bringing her own flair to the new ones. The band graced us with lots of cuts from the new album like “If it Makes You Feel Something” and “Everybody Dies” while throwing in some classics like ”My Gap is Weird,” “Martinis on the Roof” and of course “What a Time to Be Alive” and worker’s anthem “Slack Motherfucker.” The highlight for me was hearing “Void” one of my favorite songs in their catalog and one they hadn’t been playing that much lately. It hit me all over again!

I would say Superchunk is at the top of their game, but they’ve never NOT been great. This is no legacy band: they’re road warriors and one of the greats still getting it done!

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