Now one of the respected elder statesmen bands of indie rock—with a deep, excellent discography—Superchunk started like all bands do, playing small clubs with crappy sound and rocking long, luxurious heads of hair. The proof surfaced last week on YouTube, via a live video showing a youthful Superchunk playing the Court Tavern in New Brunswick, N.J., in February of 1991. Behold, singer-guitarist Mac McCaughan’s locks! Guitarist Jim Wilbur not only has hair, but it’s kind of long! And, in one shot, it looks like bassist Laura Ballance has dreads forming!
Also notable: the absence of Jon Wurster, who hadn’t yet replaced original Superchunk drummer Chuck “Chunk” Garrison. The video gets really choppy toward the end, but it’s enjoyable to see the band debuting a “new song” like “Throwing Things” and rocking through some classics like “Slack Motherfucker” (“This song is called ‘J. Mascis Produced Our Record,’” McCaughan says by way of introduction) and songs from 1990’s Superchunk.
Here’s the set list:
1. “Slow”
2. (5:21) “Slack Motherfucker”
3. (8:23) “Cool”
4. (11:52) “Binding”
5. (14:38) “Down The Hall”
6. (16:57) “Throwing Things”
7. (19:54) “Punch Me Harder”
8. (21:29) “My Noise”
9. (23:02) “Sick To Move”
10. (24:35) “What Do I”
11. (25:24) “Fishing”
12. (26:20) “Train From Kansas City” (cover)