Superchunk painted themselves into a corner long before the release of Indoor Living. By remaining true to their independent aesthetic and indie-punk sound, they earned a cult following with a series of records that essentially sounded the same. Like most indie bands, their earliest records were their rawest and most exciting, and their latter-day albums -- that is, any album after On the Mouth -- rely on craft rather than surprise. And there are no surprises on Indoor Living: it's simply another set of frenetic, tense, melodic and occasionally exciting punk-pop. Mac McCaughan is a solid songwriter, but with Superchunk he's not a particularly resourceful one -- he saves all of his experimentations for Portastatic, which leaves Superchunk a little predictable. Which means, of course, if you've followed them for this long, Indoor Living will provide some thrills. But it simply isn't as life-changing as No Pocky for Kitty or the singles on Tossing Seeds. -- Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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