Superchunk have announced a new album, Songs in the Key of Yikes, which will be out August 22 via Merge. (Preorder it on green smoke vinyl.) “It’s always been the case that everyone is going through something that you may not be aware of,” the band’s Mac McCaughan says of the album’s title and themes. “This is currently more true than ever—but also the case that we are all going through some things together. In the face of that, what good is art and where is happiness found? (Spoiler alert: I don’t know.)”
The first single is the bright-sounding “Is it Making You Feel Something,” which McCaughan says is “about not second-guessing yourself in the very second-guessable process of writing words and music,” adding, “It’s about the legitimate question of ‘who needs this and what is it good for?’ but also about not setting such a high bar for making art that you never get started. ‘Is it making you feel something?’ Ok, that’s a place to start.’” Watch the video below.
We have an exclusive green smoke vinyl variant of Songs in the Key of Yikes, limited to 300 copies and featuring a green variant of the album cover as well. It’s available for preorder in the BV shop.
Superchunk will be on tour with fall, including dates with Australia’s Tee Vee Repairmann and new Merge signing Case Oats. The NYC show is on September 11 at Bowery Ballroom with Case Oats. All dates are listed below.
Songs in the Key of Yikes
1. Is It Making You Feel Something
2. Bruised Lung
3. No Hope
4. Care Less
5. Climb the Walls
6. Cue
7. Everybody DIes
8. Stuck in a Dream
9. Train on Fire
10. Some Green
Superchunk – Tour Dates:
Sep 05 Richmond, VA – Richmond Music Hall
Sep 09 Washington, DC – Black Cat *
Sep 10 Philadelphia, PA – Ardmore Music Hall *
Sep 11 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom *
Sep 12 Boston, MA – The Crystal Ballroom *
Sep 13 Portsmouth, NH – 3S Artspace *
Sep 14 Woodstock, NY – Bearsville Theater *
Sep 16 Pittsburgh, PA – Thunderbird Cafe & Music Hall *
Sep 17 Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop *
Sep 18 Kalamazoo, MI – Bell’s Eccentric Cafe *
Sept 19 Sawyer, MI – Out There (Special Acoustic Show)
Oct 09 Pioneertown, CA – Pappy & Harriet’s
Oct 10 Las Vegas, NV – Best Friends Fest
Oct 13 Denver, CO – The Gothic Theatre ^
Oct 14 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge ^
Oct 15 Boise, ID – Shrine Social Club Ballroom ^
Oct 17 Seattle, WA – Tractor Tavern ^
Oct 18 Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios ^
Oct 19 Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios ^
Oct 21 San Francisco, CA – The Independent ^
Oct 23 Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom ^
* w/ Tee Vee Repairmann
^ w/ Case Oats