9. Incidental Music (1995)

Characteristic of a group as gifted and prolific as Superchunk, there are a number of great compilations and extras available to fans including the Clambakes Series, 1992's Tossing Seeds, 2003's Cup of Sand and sundry terrific contributions to not-for-profit releases. 1995's Incidental Music deserves special notice, collecting a remarkable amalgam of discarded originals, cover songs and other curios that speak volumes to the group's breadth of influence. The cover of The Magnetic Fields' "100,000 Fireflies" and the Verlaines' "Lying in State" are worth the price of admission alone, and McCaughan's "Home at Dawn" is one of the best originals he's ever written.

8. Majesty Shredding (2011)

Ten years following their last release, Majesty Shredding is replete with wonderful songs and energy reminiscent of Superchunk's earlier albums. Tracks like "My Gap Feels Weird" could practically be a throwback to the No Pocky era, and it is tremendously heartening and exciting to see the band firing on all of its no-holds-barred cylinders. Missing is some of the welcome sophistication of later Superchunk records, yielding the hope that this palate-cleansing exercise in straightforward rock is just the next fascinating turn in the history of one of the genre's consistently arresting bands.

7. Here's To Shutting Up (2001)

Portions of the wonderful Here's to Shutting Up could pass as the relaxed, keyboard-driven soundscapes of Roxy Music, like on the opener "Late Century Dreams." Meanwhile, tracks like the moving and slightly eerie "Phone Sex" evoke the disorienting moodscapes of American Music Club. On balance, the Superchunk of Here's To Shutting Up sounds remarkably sharp, refined and in control of an idiom that they have practically invented themselves. There is the weight of disappointment, too, as a great band seemingly winding down the clock struggles with the question of how best to exit the stage.

6. No Pocky For Kitty (1991)

The superb No Pocky For Kitty finds Superchunk tightening their sound to a highwire breaking point, with new producer Steve Albini bringing out all of the brilliant tension and anguish that was previously laid just beneath the surface of the group's dynamics. Startling songs like the opener "Skip Steps 1 & 3" and "Seed Toss" are urgent punk pop classics. McCaughan's songwriting chops are not fully realized by this point and as the album progresses, tracks like "Press" fail to achieve the same vaulting heights, but by and large this is a tremendous record portending greatness at every turn.

5. Come Pick Me Up (1999)

Yet another in a longstanding series of power pop classics, Come Pick Me Up features some of the best and most memorable items in the Superchunk oeuvre, including the unforgettable Tommy Keene-like "Cursed Mirror" and the surging Bob Mould-style "1000 Pounds." On the album's final track, McCaughan places his entry into the soul ballad sweepstakes with the crushing "You Can Always Count on Me (In The Worst Way)." Come Pick Me Up is amongst the most powerful writing of his career.

4. Indoor Living (1997)

The stunning Indoor Living finds McCaughan and company further advancing from recent gains on albums like Foolish and Here's Where The Strings Come In. On winning songs like the opener "Unbelievable Things" and the single "Watery Hands" McCaughan seems suddenly capable of turning his frustration inward, recognizing that even his herculean work ethic and capacity for magical thinking will not cede to him a true sense of control. (Throughout his career, McCaughan seems uniquely fixated on uncontrollable disasters -- see his many songs about plane crashes and natural disasters.) There is a wry element to Indoor Living, but the ultimate takeaway is one of sadness and loss, culminating with the finale "Martinis On The Roof" -- a longing elegy to a friend taken too soon.

3. Here's Where The Strings Come In (1995)

Foolish was a difficult act to follow, but 1995's Here's Where the Strings Come In was a tour de force with designs to bring the band to ever-larger audiences. No one can rightfully resist the paint-by-numbers classic opener "Hyper Enough," but the real intrigue on this album comes with the tricky time signatures of "Silverleaf And Snowy Tears" or the ingeniously affirming "Detroit Has A Skyline." Here's Where the Strings Come In is Superchunk at their most diverse, ambitious and fearless. Even the material that doesn't work is a credit to a band never willing to play it safe.

2. On The Mouth (1993)

On The Mouth commences with the breathless "Precision Auto," essentially a speed-addled warning to stay out of the highway's fast lane, and hardly lets up from there. Tracks like "Package Thief" and "The Question Is How Fast" all revolve around the need for expediency in music, life, and personal conduct. The net result is a record so exhilarating that morning coffee is rendered a moot afterthought. On The Mouth is a pure melodic distillation of everything we need to be anxious about starting yesterday.

1. Foolish (1994)

From the slow-building noir of the opening track "Like A Fool" to the crushing confession of the lead single "Driveway To Driveway," Foolish remains one of the saddest and most relatable documents of suffering and alienation rendered in recent music history. The songs are uniformly great -- from the angular attack of "First Part" to the languidly demoralized "Stretched Out," everything here works. By the unbearably tense album closer "In A Stage Whisper," McCaughan's seething has nearly crossed the line into a full psychotic break. Foolish is often harrowing but unmistakably a the watershed moment for one of the era's best and most enduring bands.