Majesty Shredding

Majesty Shredding
Studio album by Superchunk
Released September 14, 2010
Recorded Recorded at Overdub Lane, Durham, NC
Genre Alternative, indie rock, punk rock
Length 41:44
Label Merge
Producer Scott Solter, Superchunk
Superchunk chronology
The Clambakes Series Vol. 3
(2004)		 Majesty Shredding
(2010)		 I Hate Music
(2013)

Majesty Shredding is the ninth studio album by the alternative rock band Superchunk. It was released in September 2010 on Merge Records.[1] It is the group's first studio album since 2001's Here's to Shutting Up.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Alternative Press[3]
The A.V. ClubA[4]
The Guardian)[5]
NME8/10[6]
One Thirty BPM[7]
Pitchfork8.0/10[8]
Prefix8.5/10[9]
Robert ChristgauA-[10]
Rolling Stone[11]
Spin[12]
The Village VoicePositive[13]

Majesty Shredding received widespread critical acclaim upon its release.Review Aggregator site AnyDecentMusic? correlated 16 reviews resulting in an ADM Rating of 7.9, indicating that the album has been critically well received.[14] This album was number 25 on Rolling Stone's list of the 30 Best Albums of 2010.[15]

Marc Hawthorne of The AV Club gave the album a perfect "A" score, and placed the album among the best work of the band's career. "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."[4]

Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone gave the album four out of five stars, writing that "No youngsters this side of Arcade Fire articulate ambivalence with such skill or heart. Few even try."[11] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times gave the album a positive review; "Once the great indie hope of Chapel Hill, N.C., this band has recaptured its grasp on bright, puckish and punkish power pop with no apparent effort."[16] Jessica Hopper of The Village Voice wrote, "Majesty Shredding is the band's first new studio album in nine years, 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."[13]

Despite an overall positive review, critic Mischa Pearlman commented on the album's bittersweet lyrical content in her review for BBC Music: "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."[17]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Mac McCaughan, Laura Ballance, Jon Wurster and Jim Wilbur. 

No. Title Length
1. "Digging For Something"   3:30
2. "My Gap Feels Weird"   3:13
3. "Rosemarie"   4:15
4. "Crossed Wires"   3:48
5. "Slow Drip"   2:52
6. "Fractures in Plaster"   5:19
7. "Learned to Surf"   3:54
8. "Winter Games"   4:14
9. "Rope Light"   2:36
10. "Hot Tubes"   3:52
11. "Everything at Once"   4:19

Chart performance

Chart (2010) Peak position
The Billboard 200 85[18]
Top Independent Albums 17[18]
Top Modern Rock/Alternative Albums 21[18]
Top Rock Albums 33[18]

Personnel

Band

Additional Musicians

  • John Darnielle - 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 - Engineer
  • Maria Rice - Mastering Assistant
  • Scott Solter - Engineer, Mixing

Design

  • Jason Arthurs - Band photo
  • Maggie Fost - Cover Art, Design
  • Mac McCaughan - Cover Art
  • PJ Sykes - Photography
  • Brian Vetter - Photography

References

  1. ↑ "Superchunk Announce Majesty Shredding Album". Exclaim!, June 3, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Allmusic Review".
  3. ↑ Alternative Press, Oct 2010, p.117
  4. 1 2 Marc Hawthorne (2010-09-14). "Superchunk, "Majesty Shredding"". The AV Club. Retrieved 2013-08-11.
  5. ↑ Tom Hughes (2010-09-30). [http://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/sep/30/superchunk-majesty-shredding-cd-review / "Superchunk: Majesty Shredding"] Check |url= value (help). The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-08-11. line feed character in |url= at position 84 (help)
  6. ↑ Tom Edwards (2010-10-01). "Album review: Superchunk - Majesty Shredding (Merge)". NME. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  7. ↑ "Review by Philip Cosores".
  8. ↑ "Pitchfork Review".
  9. ↑ Dave Park (2010-09-16). "Superchunk Majesty Shredding". Prefix. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  10. ↑ "Robert Christgau".
  11. 1 2 Jon Dolan (2010-09-14). "Majesty Shredding". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2013-08-11.
  12. ↑ "Spin Review".
  13. 1 2 Jessica Hopper (2010-09-15). "Superchunk Are Not Reuniting: Rejecting nostalgia on the majestic Majesty Shredding". The Village Voice. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  14. ↑ "Majesty Shredding by Superchunk reviews". Any Decent Music. 2010-09-20. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
  15. ↑ "The 30 Best Albums of 2010". Rolling Stone (December 25, 2010). Retrieved 2011-01-18
  16. ↑ Jon Pareles and Jon Caramanica (2010-09-19). "New CDs". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  17. ↑ Mischa Pearlman (2010-10-04). "Superchunk Majesty Shredding Review". BBC Music. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  18. 1 2 3 4 Majesty Shredding Charts & Awards, Allmusic, retrieved 08-11-2013 Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
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