Art Class (Song for Yayoi Kusama)

Chronique

Superchunk has always released great EPs in between their albums. Indeed, many of their best songs can be found on their shortest releases, in contrast to the groups who use the format as an excuse to get rid of old leftovers. At first glance, ART CLASS would appear to be an exception to that rule: four songs, including the same version of the title track that appeared on 2001's HERE'S TO SHUTTING UP and an acoustic rendition of the same song, not to mention a video track with, you guessed it, a third version (recorded live at the Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill). Normally, that would be overkill, but "Art Class" is certainly Superchunk's best song since 1995's "Hyper Enough," and possibly their best since the classic lo-fi anthem "Slack Motherfucker." The album version is incredibly catchy, but remarkably, the acoustic remake utterly transforms the song. Rather than being a lazily performed demo, the acoustic version reveals the melody half-hidden under the wasp-buzz guitars of the original, turning it into a gentle reverie akin to some of Yo La Tengo's more lyrical moments. The other two tracks, "A Collection of Accounts" and "The Hot Break," are fairly routine Superchunk rockers, but at least for fans, the disc is worth purchasing for the remake alone.
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