No Pocky for Kitty (Remastered)

Superchunk was one of the most important indie-rock bands of the 1990s. Their insistence on the D.I.Y (Do It Yourself) principles kept them in control of their affairs and allowed them to shape their sound without unwanted outside influences. It made their records testaments to the “indie-rock purity” that was extremely important to the era. Their second full-length album, No Pocky For Kitty, recorded by Steve Albini and his no-nonsense audio-vérité approach, leaves plenty of room for singer Mac McCaughan to frazzle his nerves on the tense emotions that lead tunes such as “Punch Me Harder,” “Throwing Things” and “Tie a Rope to the Back of the Bus.” The band’s combustible performances add to the urgency and make Suerchunk very much a band dependent on each moving part to create the whole. Simply put, the guitars sound great and blend with the vocals and the rhythms like an Americanized Gang of Four crossed with a primal punk attack. The emotional overload would eventually go to extremes with the “emo” movement. Here, it is in the hands of masters.