Majesty Shredding

Majesty Shredding
Studio album by Superchunk
Released September 14, 2010
Recorded Overdub Lane, Durham, North Carolina
Genre Alternative rock, 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 American alternative rock band Superchunk. It was released on September 14, 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
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic83/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Alternative Press[4]
The A.V. ClubA[5]
The Guardian[6]
Mojo[7]
MSN MusicA−[8]
NME8/10[9]
Pitchfork Media8.0/10[10]
Rolling Stone[11]
Spin7/10[12]

Majesty Shredding received widespread critical acclaim upon its release, holding a score of 83 out of 100 on the review aggregate site Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim".[2] Majesty Shredding was ranked number 25 on Rolling Stone's list of the 30 Best Albums of 2010.[13]

Marc Hawthorne of The A.V. Club 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."[5] Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone wrote: "No youngsters this side of Arcade Fire articulate ambivalence with such skill or heart. Few even try."[11] Jessica Hopper of The Village Voice 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."[14] The New York Times' Jon Caramanica wrote that the band had "recaptured its grasp on bright, puckish and punkish power pop with no apparent effort."[15] Critic Mischa Pearlman noted the album's bittersweet lyrical content in his 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."[16]

Track listing

All tracks written 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

Personnel

Superchunk

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 – 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

Chart (2010) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[17] 85
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[18] 17
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[19] 21
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[20] 33

References

  1. ↑ "Superchunk Announce Majesty Shredding Album". Exclaim!, June 3, 2010.
  2. 1 2 "Reviews for Majesty Shredding by Superchunk". Metacritic. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  3. ↑ Sendra, Tim. "Majesty Shredding – Superchunk". AllMusic. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Superchunk: Majesty Shredding". Alternative Press (267): 117. October 2010.
  5. 1 2 Hawthorne, Marc (September 14, 2010). "Superchunk: Majesty Shredding". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
  6. ↑ Hughes, Tom (September 30, 2010). "Superchunk: Majesty Shredding". The Guardian. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Superchunk: Majesty Shredding". Mojo (204): 108. November 2010.
  8. ↑ Christgau, Robert (April 22, 2011). "No Age/Superchunk". MSN Music. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  9. ↑ Edwards, Tom (October 1, 2010). "Album review: Superchunk – Majesty Shredding (Merge)". NME. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
  10. ↑ Breihan, Tom (September 21, 2010). "Superchunk: Majesty Shredding". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
  11. 1 2 Dolan, Jon (September 27, 2010). "Majesty Shredding". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
  12. ↑ Menconi, David (August 23, 2010). "Superchunk, 'Majesty Shredding' (Merge)". Spin. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
  13. ↑ "The 30 Best Albums of 2010". Rolling Stone. December 25, 2010. Retrieved January 18, 2011.
  14. ↑ Hopper, Jessica (September 15, 2010). "Superchunk Are Not Reuniting: Rejecting nostalgia on the majestic Majesty Shredding". The Village Voice. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  15. ↑ Pareles, Jon; Caramanica, Jon (September 19, 2010). "New CDs". The New York Times. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  16. ↑ Pearlman, Mischa (October 4, 2010). "Superchunk Majesty Shredding Review". BBC Music. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
  17. ↑ "Superchunk – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Superchunk. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Superchunk – Chart history" Billboard Independent Albums for Superchunk. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  19. ↑ "Superchunk – Chart history" Billboard Top Alternative Albums for Superchunk. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Superchunk – Chart history" Billboard Top Rock Albums for Superchunk. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
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