Superchunk Jam With John Darnielle, Todd Barry in New York

Indie-rock heroes Superchunk don't get around to touring much these days, so when they do, they tend to make the most of it. The band certainly did just that at Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg on Sunday night. It was the second of two sold-out shows in the New York area and about 20 minutes in, guitarist/vocalist Mac McCaughan brought out the Mountain Goats' main man John Darnielle to help on backing vocals for the song 'Digging for Something.'

Those types of special guest appearances can sometimes feel rather forced, but Darnielle and McCaughan essentially sung the song together, both popping neck veins in unison. If nothing else, it was fun to see Darnielle break out of the more mellow vibes of the Mountain Goats and into something speedy. Before starting up 'Digging,' Darnielle seemed to echo this sentiment, as he squealed with delight "I'm so excited I'm onstage with Superchunk."

Darnielle has recently joined the Merge Records stable, with his new band the Extra Lens releasing their debut on Oct. 19, so it wasn't too big a surprise that these two could be on stage together. But more of a surprise came during the encore, a punishing guitar affair that began with drummer Jon Wurster coming to center stage and remarking "if you told me in 1982 I'd be looking up Misfits lyrics on a cell phone, I would have said 'What's a cell phone?'" With that, Wurster shared lead vocal duties with McCaughan on the Misfits' 'Horror Business.' Joining Superchunk on drums was comedian Todd Barry, who played with un-ironic precision, possibly the only time we've seen him so determined to be taken seriously. And it worked -- if Barry's bottomless well of observations around the techno-crazed milieu ever runs dry, drummer for a Misfits cover band could be a viable option for him down the road.

Currently supporting their recently released 9th album 'Majestry Shredding,' Superchunk's set mixed many of their more classic tunes such as 'Slack Motherf---er' and 'Skip Steps 1 & 3' with a slew of new tunes, such as the 'Crossed Wires,' 'Fractures in Plasture' and 'Rosemarie.' Sure, the old Chunkers bowed down and moshed to the early, crunchy guitars of the band's early jams, but as we learned from Darnielle earlier in the evening, the new material isn't anything to scoff at. Watch Superchunk perform 'Horror Business' below.