Album: On The Mouth
Year: 1993
. . .
At the same time that Superchunk were releasing all of the singles that ended up on the epochal Tossing Seeds (Singles 89-91) compilation, they also recorded two albums for Matador: 1990’s Superchunk and 1991’s Steve Albini-engineered No Pocky For Kitty.
Like the two Buzzcocks albums that were recorded at the same time they recorded Singles Going Steady, these two records kinda got overshadowed by the singles compilation — at least for me — as they also shared some of the same songs. I mean, no matter how great “Slow” from Superchunk is, it’s always going to be overshadowed by “Slack Motherfucker.” And with Jim Wilbur replacing Jack McCook on guitar for No Pocky for Kitty, it sounds better than their previous work, as Albini’s no-nonsense sensibility permeated the whole thing. But there weren’t a lot of hooks, either, though “Throwing Things” is a standout for sure.
Also, after No Pocky for Kitty was released, Chuck “Chunk” Garrison left the band, replaced by Jon Wurster — one of the greatest drummers of my generation — and Superchunk’s line-up for the next 30 or so years was essentially set: every record from 1993’s On The Mouth through 2022’s Wild Loneliness would feature Mac McCaughlin singing lead and playing guitar, Jim Wilbur playing guitar, Laura Ballance on bass and Wurster hammering the drums. (I know that Wurster recently announced he is leaving the band, so we will see what happens next.)
And they nailed it from the start: On The Mouth is probably my favorite album from Superchunk’s initial run, and “Mower” is definitely my favorite Superchunk song full-up, capturing everything I love about them a single song.
First off, let’s start with the riff that drives the song: it’s basically a direct cop from the Modern Lovers “Roadrunner,” which why it took a quarter-century for someone to do is beyond me.
And so, after a droning opening — pulling the cord on the titular mower to get it started — they almost instantly go into their “Roadunner” variation as Mac starts singing, full of power and confidence.
Nothing gets in my way today
No one has the power of steel beneath them
I’ll leave the world cut out
And left to rot beneath the blade
And before you can even draw a breath, they roll right into the chorus, and all of that power and confidence dissolves when he realizes what he’s done.
It was a robin’s egg and it was blue
It was a robin’s egg and it was blue
It was crushed to bits and you saw it, too
And you say about these things
We say about these things
We have no idea what we’re saying
I could be wrong, but my interpretation of “Mower” has always been that the accidental running over a robin’s egg with a mower has triggered an existential crisis. Or or a spiritual crisis. Or both. All I know is that I love the way he screams “it was a robin’s egg and it was blue” like he realizes that he’s committed the worst crime anybody has ever committed.
Don’t you stay in one place to long
They will crawl inside your shoes
They will eat you from the inside
They will make you play to lose
After the second chorus, there’s a long guitar break where Mac takes a short solo, before they go back into the chorus again, this time tying it all together as Wurster goes into a merciless double time.
It was a robin’s egg and it was blue
It was a robin’s egg and it was blue
It was crushed to bits and it looked like you and meeeeeee
I love the broken scream of “you and meeeeeeee” After that, it’s all doom and despair, as he’s clearly gone into a spiral that not even the upbeat music can pull him out of, but at the same time, he’s speaking for all of us.
Singing about these things
Cut it short, we take the easy way every time
We have no idea what we’re saying
No idea what we’re saying
No idea what we’re
What we’re saying
“Mower” had originally come out as a single in 1992 — they even made a video for it — and was re-recorded for On The Mouth. They’re both utterly fantastic, but I give the nod for the On The Mouth version because it’s slightly cleaner (to be expected) and slightly faster (not to be expected). But either way, it a fantastic song, one of the greatest things 1990s indie produced.
“Mower”
“Mower” Official Music Video
“Mower” Live 1992
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