SUPERCHUNK
WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE
After the shocking, and for many, demoralizing result of the 2016 election, "I didn't buy the silver lining some were promoting that 'well, at least art and music will be great now!'," says Superchunk co-founder and frontman Mac McCaughan. "Obviously, any sane person would gladly trade four to eight years of terrible music for not having our country dismantled to satisfy the whims of a vengeful child and his enablers." Written almost entirely between November 2016 and February 2017, What a Time to Be Alive was recorded and mixed by Beau Sorenson, who also worked on I Hate Music. "He's possibly the first engineer we've worked with that I had to ask to turn down the guitars," says Mac. "Not too much, though." The record also features more guest backing vocalists than any previous Superchunk album, including Sabrina Ellis (A Giant Dog, Sweet Spirit), Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee), Stephin Merritt (The Magnetic Fields), Skylar Gudasz, and David Bazan. "Part of that was wa nting a feeling of community," says Mac. "I think that's important to not be completely bummed out about everything all the time." |