Pretty much from the moment I heard about this book I was pumped to read it. The book centers around the story of Merge Records which was basically founded and started by Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance of Superchunk. It is no secret to any regular reader of DBF here that I love the shit out of Superchunk and have pretty much been a huge fan since high school. This book is written by John Cook with extensive additions from Mac and Laura as well as all of the bands featured and many special guests. The story of Merge Records closely follows the story of Superchunk, not to mention the story of some very notable artists that have made up their roster over the years including Neutral Milk Hotel, Spoon and of course Arcade Fire. So upon hearing about this book that combines the history of Superchunk with the stories of some of the kings of the here and now in indie, I knew you just couldn’t go wrong. The book serves as a great trip down memory lane for those of us that knew and loved Superchunk as well as a great example and discussion on the state of music nowadays with the major labels fading and dying and smaller labels pushing their own bands are still out there doing what they love. The big theme of the book is music as art versus music as business, and I think you can guess which side this comes down on.
The first several chapters follow Mac and Laura in their pre-Superchunk bands through the formation of Superchunk, the recording of the first few singles and the beginning of the rise to popularity. For anyone who played in a band in high school or just loves to play and record these are great chapters really taking you back to how they got started, just gigging around town, forming a hundred different bands, and releasing albums. Eventually their releasing of albums took on a more serious tone and they basically started Merge Records before Superchunk even existed.
The stories of Superchunk’s formation and run-ins with major labels in the post-Nirvana frenzy are all very interesting to read and really shine a lot of light on a lot of what was happening in those days in the early 90s when every buzz-y band was getting signed by majors. Superchunk has always been somewhat known as the band that never sold out or never went to a major, and their side of that is chronicled here as well. In the long run, even after their initial deal with Matador ran up, they found that they wanted to do things their way and basically just did what they needed to do to make that happen. The DIY ethic runs very strong here, and you can see throughout the book where the fact that Merge was started and run by Superchunk, artists themselves, really drove them with an ear for the artist’s vision and the music itself over strictly business decisions.
The book is set up with basically every other chapter chronicling the story of Superchunk through each album for the most part and interspersed are chapters on other Merge artists of note including The Magnetic Fields, Neutral Milk Hotel, Spoon and Arcade Fire and explains how they started, and how they ended up being on Merge. Some of the artists had left the label, but a lot of them had stayed, and a lot of the book shows the great relationship that Mac and Laura had with these artists and how that really allowed them to put out the albums they wanted to and do what they felt was right.
Even if you aren’t a fan of Superchunk (but seriously, you really should be, check them out) if you are a fan of these other bands it is really interesting to read their origin stories and see how they themselves dealt with major label pressures and how they flourished with Merge. The book really lays out so many great discussions and stories that really show the business side of music from an indie perspective and shows you how great it is for a label to survive like Merge has throughout the years.
The book really builds to a climax with the Arcade Fire chapter at the end which is followed by a general discussion of the state of the business today. The story of the Arcade Fire is really fascinating and it is also interesting to read about Merge trying to handle the excessive demand for the album and the explosion of popularity that ensued when Funeral came out. The pressures of Neon Bible are also discussed and Arcade Fire is really laid out as a great case study in how a band can be huge and successful in today’s landscape within the indie framework. It really is true that they are so popular right now they don’t really need the majors, and that is why these indie labels like Merge are able to thrive in this climate while the majors are dying.
The final chapter offers up a lot of different perspectives on how misguided the majors have been in their business practices and how it has come back to bite them and how the current heavily digital music world is one in which bands like Spoon and Arcade Fire can be on indie labels, and get their music out there and still be on SNL and get a better deal for what they want than if they submit to the control and the pressure of the major system. It is really an interesting chapter in that sense and really ties the book together nicely in showing how this blue collar, love of music (because they are artists themselves) has served Merge so well through the years in getting to this place where they can exist and be a solid label and a solid business because they really have the artist’s interests at heart.
In our current landscape where so much of the talk of the ‘business’ of music revolves around the major labels griping about pirates or complaining that the business has changed or music isn’t popular or whatever it is really refreshing to read an account of a label that has had some awesome bands and done things in a very genuine and authentic way from day one and they are doing just fine in this current music climate. People are buying Merge records or Merge downloads and going out to see the shows and you can see the results in bands like Spoon and Arcade Fire. I highly recommend this book, especially if you are a fan of any of the bands discussed in here, because it really offers a great account of the state of the industry today and how the business has evolved with the rise of the indies and the rise of the digital music and how this is all playing out from their perspective. Really good read, and probably as current a look at things as you can get right now in a book. Seriously, check it out.
Our Noise is available here from Amazon.
Click here to access the official Our Noise website.
