We’ve just passed Halloween and Election Day, and now Bandcamp Friday arrives, marking another unusually special moment. Hailing from North Carolina, the indie powerhouse Superchunk have long championed the idea of spontaneous, one-off releases, and they’ve just offered listeners a winter-themed surprise EP featuring one fresh song plus four covers.
Today, Superchunk drop a new EP titled Wintry Mix — a fitting name for the project. Every track leans into winter in some way, including the brand-new opener “Shortest Day Of The Year,” a punchy, retro-style Superchunk tune with a dash of sleigh bells. It’s a fun track! And even though one new Superchunk song would be plenty, they’ve stacked the release with covers as well.
Wintry Mix includes a rendition of a familiar classic: Wham!’s “Last Christmas,” the 1984 holiday staple that could contend with Mariah Carey’s Hot 100 presence this season. It also features two numbers associated with their former Merge labelmates, the Magnetic Fields. “The Blizzard Of ’78” and “Have You Seen It In The Snow” come from the band’s 2017 concept album 50 Song Memoir. (Incidentally, Superchunk covered the Magnetic Fields’ “I Don’t Want To Get Over You” just last year.) Additionally, the set includes their take on “Snowstorm” from Galaxie 500’s 1989 classic On Fire—a slowcore touchstone. Remarkably, all of these tracks still feel unmistakably Superchunk in voice. Listen to the new EP below.
The Wintry Mix EP is out now on Merge.
