Photo via Merge Records
Superchunk
Superchunk
If you think it’s been quite some time since you have seen Superchunk in Milwaukee, you would be right. Like last century right.
But the North Carolina indie rock powerhouse is back here for a free show on Saturday as part of WMSE’s Backyard BBQ in Humboldt Park.
In 1999, the last time they played Milwaukee, lead singer Mac McCaughan says, they played at the Rave/Eagles Club venue on the same day as the Buzzcocks, on different stages. Seeing the Buzzcocks was awesome, but McCaughan says he and the band were also psyched on that trip to visit the late Bob Paquette’s Microphone Museum.
“He had compiled, put together this collection of all kinds of microphones and a few other AV equipment things from like local TV stations and things like that,” McCaughan says, “but it was like a museum and a very idiosyncratic one at that. That was really cool.” Paquette, who operated the museum inside his Select Sound Service business, 107 E. National Ave., passed away in 2018.
Songs in the Key of Yikes
Despite celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2024, Superchunk has not really slowed down, releasing two acclaimed albums so far this decade: Wild Loneliness (2023) and Songs in the Key of Yikes (2025), along with their usual prolific and highly enjoyable singles output. With song titles like “No Hope,” “Bruised Lung,” and “Everybody Dies,” you might not expect Yikes to be especially peppy, but it rocks frequently. McCaughan attributes the renewed energy to the band being able to record together again; Wild Loneliness was put together during COVID with band members all contributing separately.
“I love the way (Wild Loneliness) turned out, but it’s very different than just like rocking out in a room all together, you know,” he says. “So, I think that kind of brought the punkiness back into the songs and the performances, so when I listen to Songs in the Key of Yikes, to me it’s kind of like a combination of all the records we’ve made since Majesty Shredding, and so that’s kind of cool. It plays a little bit like a mixtape, but I think the energy is really great on it.”
When complimented about the band’s prowess in naming albums, McCaughan jokes that the band holds very serious meetings where they must come up with an instantly iconic name. But really they just brainstorm, he says, and see what sticks.
“Sometimes a song title just makes sense, and you go like, ‘Yeah, that describes it.’ It's a song title, but it also kind of describes this whole zone that we’re in,” he says. “And for this one, I think that we certainly had a list with some other song titles, and lyrics and stuff like that, and then (Songs in the Key of Yikes) just kind of popped into my head, and I wrote it down and emailed everyone. I was like, is this just too dumb to be the album title, or is it just dumb enough to be the album title? And it does seem to capture the mood.”
A Departure and then a Welcome Addition
Superchunk has maintained consistency with its lineup, which includes longtime members McCaughan, bassist Laura Ballance, and guitarist Jim Wilbur. But drummer Jon Wurster, who had played with the band since 1993’s On the Mouth, left after Wild Loneliness. However, the Chapel Hill music gods blessed the band with another top drummer, Laura King (The Moaners, Flesh Wounds), who McCaughan says he has known since the 1990s.
“I remember the first time I saw her play drums was with Grand National, which was a band she was in that was Ed (Crawford) from Ohio’s band after Firehose, and then she was in the Moaners, etc., etc.,” he says. “And so, I’d seen her play a bunch and toured with her with her band, the Flesh Wounds, as well. And so we were just good friends, and we knew she was an awesome drummer, and it was almost like too good to be true that she was available to play with us. We toured a bunch before we made the new record, and I think that really helped our first album with her feel like everything fit together already.”
For the Milwaukee show, bassist Jason Marducy will join Superchunk on bass for Ballance, as he has done since the early 2010s, when Ballance announced she was giving up touring because she was having to deal with hyperacusis.
Merge Records
In addition to Superchunk, McCaughan and Ballance have also maintained Merge Records as an independent record label for what will be 40 years in 2029. McCaughan agreed that the label had helped the longevity of the band. He attributed their success to having great employees and a community-like feeling around the label.
“Most of them have been doing it a long time and know how record label works and know what artists need that are on Merge, and I’m thankful that allows us to go on tour as much (as we still do),” he says.
Superchunk is scheduled to play 5:15-6:30 p.m. at WMSE’s Backyard BBQ at Humboldt Bark on Saturday, Aug. 22. The rest of the lineup: Noon (and between bands, DJ Robert G from WMSE’s Reggae Vibrations; 1:15-1:55 p.m., Ivy Ford Band; 2:25-3:20 p.m.; Known Moons; 3:50-4:45 p.m.; and 7-8 p.m., Sylvan Esso DJ Set. More information at wmse.org/event/16th-annual-wmse-backyard-bbq/.
