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Nov 08, 2017 Superchunk By Christopher Roberts Photography by Lissa Gotwals

Superchunk have announced a new album, What a Time to Be Alive, and shared a lyric video for its title track. As its title suggests, the album is partly inspired by America’s current political situation (as we hit the one-year anniversary of the election of President Donald Trump). What a Time to Be Alive is due out February 16, 2018 via Merge. Check out the “What a Time to Be Alive” lyric video below, followed by the album’s tracklist and cover art. Also below are the band’s upcoming tour dates.

Frontman Mac McCaughan had this to say about What a Time to Be Alive in a press release: “The album is about a lot of things of course but mainly dealing with anxiety and worse in the face of incipient authoritarianism…. [It’s a record] about a pretty dire and depressing situation but hopefully not a record that is dire and depressing to listen to.”

McCaughan later adds: “It would be strange to be in a band, at least our band, and make a record that completely ignored the surrounding circumstances that we live in and that our kids are going to grow up in.”

The album features backing vocals from Sabrina Ellis (A Giant Dog, Sweet Spirit), Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee), Stephin Merritt (The Magnetic Fields), Skylar Gudasz, and David Bazan. “Part of that was wanting a feeling of community,” McCaughan explains. “I think that’s important to not be completely bummed out about everything all the time.”

Superchunk also features Jim Wilbur, Jon Wurster, and Laura Balance. The band’s last album was 2013’s I Hate Music.

What a Time to Be Alive Tracklist:

01 What a Time to Be Alive
02 Lost My Brain
03 Break the Glass
04 Bad Choices
05 Dead Photographers
06 Erasure
07 I Got Cut
08 Reagan Youth
09 Cloud of Hate
10 All For You
11 Black Thread

Superchunk Tour Dates:

Feb 15 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar*
Feb 17 Richmond, VA - The Broadberry*
Feb 21 San Diego, CA - The Casbah*
Feb 22 Los Angeles, CA - The Moroccan Lounge*
Feb 23 Los Angeles, CA - The Teragram Ballroom*
Feb 24 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall @ Noise Pop Festival*
Feb 26 Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios*
Feb 27 Seattle, WA - Neumos*
Feb 28 Vancouver, BC - Rickshaw Theatre*
Apr 03 Washington, DC - Black Cat^
Apr 04 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer^
Apr 06 Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair^
Apr 07 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom^
Apr 08 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom^
Apr 26 Atlanta, GA - Terminal West
Apr 27 Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle
Apr 28 Asheville, NC - The Grey Eagle

* w/ Bat Fangs
^ w/ Swearin’

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