''Majesty Shredding'' is the ninth studio album by American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band

Superchunk Superchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, consisting of singer-guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster. Formed in 1989, they were one of t ...

. It was released on September 14, 2010 on

Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expanded ...

. It is the group's first studio album since 2001's ''

Here's to Shutting Up ''Here's to Shutting Up'' is the eighth studio album by American indie rock band Superchunk. Brian Paulson Brian Paulson is an American musician, record producer and audio engineer from Minnesota, best known for recording albums by Slint, Unc ...

''.

Critical reception

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

''Majesty Shredding'' has a score of 83 out of 100 based on 25 critics reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". ''Majesty Shredding'' was ranked number 25 on ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...

''s list of the 30 Best Albums of 2010. Marc Hawthorne of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cr ...

'' felt that the album was among the best work of the band's career, stating that "''Majesty Shredding'' lives up to its name and doesn’t waste much time catching its breath, and along the way Superchunk delivers something that used to be expected of the band: an album on which every song sounds as inspired as the next one." Jon Dolan of ''Rolling Stone'' wrote: "No youngsters this side of

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member ...

articulate ambivalence with such skill or heart. Few even try." Jessica Hopper of ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'' called the album "vigorous and kicking, much more so than you'd have right or reason to expect out of a band this deep into their career. A band still sparking with ideas. Two decades in, it's still duty now for the future." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' Jon Caramanica wrote that the band had "recaptured its grasp on bright, puckish and punkish power pop with no apparent effort." Critic Mischa Pearlman noted the album's bittersweet lyrical content in his review for

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio ...

: "Although that jubilant, sunny feeling permeates all of these 11 songs, it's coupled with a sense of jaded, measured hindsight – that, despite the open, blue North Carolina sky above them and the youthful energy it inspires, you can't recapture the past."

Track listing

Personnel

Superchunk *

Mac McCaughan Ralph Lee "Mac" McCaughan (; born July 12, 1967) is an American musician and record label owner, based in North Carolina. His main musical projects have been Superchunk since 1989 and Portastatic since the early 1990s. In 1989 he founded the inde ...

– vocals, guitar *

Laura Ballance Laura Jane Ballance (born February 22, 1968) is the bassist in the rock band Superchunk (also contributing occasional backing vocals) and co-founder of Merge Records along with Mac McCaughan. In 2013 she announced that she would no longer be tour ...

– bass *

Jon Wurster Jonathan Patrick Wurster (born October 31, 1966) is an American drummer and comedy writer. As a musician, he is best known for his work with Superchunk, the Mountain Goats, and Bob Mould. He is also known for appearing on '' The Best Show'' wi ...

– drums * James Wilbur – guitar Additional musicians *

John Darnielle John Darnielle (; born March 16, 1967) is an American musician and novelist best known as the primary, and originally sole, member of the American band the Mountain Goats, for which he is the writer, composer, guitarist, pianist, and vocalist. ...

– additional vocals on "Digging for Something" * Mark Daumen – tuba on "Digging for Something" * Matt Kenney – trumpet on "Digging for Something" * Seamus Kenney – trombone on "Digging for Something" * Kristen Beard – viola on "Fractures in Plaster" Production * Jeff Lipton – mastering *

John Plymale John Plymale is a record producer, recording engineer, and musician from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA. Plymale was a founding member of the band The Pressure Boys in 1981 as well as The Sex Police in 1989. He was bassist for the band Bustello ...

– engineering * Maria Rice – mastering assistant * Scott Solter – engineering, mixing Design * Jason Arthurs – band photography * Maggie Fost – cover art, design * Mac McCaughan – cover art * PJ Sykes – photography * Brian Vetter – photography

Charts

References

{{Authority control Superchunk albums 2010 albums Merge Records albums Albums produced by Scott Solter