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Superchunk Can Always Count On: Noank, Connecticut

Don’t call it a comeback, Superchunk‘s been here for years. The band members just haven’t been doing anything since the release of 2001’s stellar Here’s To Shutting Up. Well, not much together, anyway, apart from a few one-off gigs and the occasional single. Singer/guitarist Mac McCaughan and bassist Laura Ballance have their hands full running Merge Records and raising families (plus McCaughan has released a number of fine Portastatic records); drummer Jon Wurster has toured and/or hit the studio with the likes of Robert Pollard, the New Pornographers, Bob Mould and the Mountain Goats in between hilarious Facebook postings and Best Show On WFMU appearances; and while we’re not sure what guitarist Jim Wilbur has been up to, other than gigging with Portastatic, he probably has a lot on his plate, too. It’s a wonder the busy quartet was able to reconvene for the fine Majesty Shredding (Merge), a more-than-welcome return that’s accompanied by the band’s first full-on, albeit relatively brief, tour since 2001. Superchunk will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Q&A with McCaughan and Ballance.

Jim: Back when the band was more of a touring concern, I always lobbied to schedule a day off between shows in NYC and Boston. The reason being so that I could visit my family and friends still living in and around Noank. Noank is a small village that sits on a hilly peninsula at the mouth of the Mystic River in the southeastern part of the state. It’s the place where I grew up, and it’s the place I left when I moved to North Carolina to join Superchunk. As I write this, I am visiting again for an extended period prior to the commencement of touring for Majesty Shredding. In the past few weeks, I’ve been reminded daily of my good fortune to have come from such an awesome place.

Video after the jump.