Various Artists, 'Old Enough to Know Better: 15 Years of Merge Records' (Merge)
By Will Hermes 08.20.04 3:00 AM
It’s only appropriate that the mentor-minded underachieversof Superchunk open their label’s anniversary set with anotherband--Neutral Milk Hotel, whose leader Jeff Mangum disappearedafter two intimately surreal indie-rock masterpieces. Thistriple-CD is less a best-of (no “Slack Motherfucker,”etc.) than an alumni reunion where no one bogarts the mic andeveryone has something worth saying, even if you can’t alwaysremember it afterward. Underclass-mates Camera Obscura, M. Ward,the Clientele, and the Third Eye Foundation prove these are thegood ol’ days, too.
