Release Date: October 10th, 2011
Without question, one of the most anticipated indie releases of 2011 is the self-titled debut from a new band called Wild Flag. Given the quartet’s pedigree, it’s not hard to understand why. For those who have been oblivious to the buzz, the group features former Sleater-Kinney members guitarist Carrie Brownstein (also of IFC’s “Portlandia”) and drummer Janet Weiss (also half of Quasi and one of former Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus’s Jicks). Also on guitar is Mary Timony of Helium semi-fame (although she was in seminal outfit Autoclave and has released some quality solo work of her own), and the band’s secret weapon is keyboardist Rebecca Cole from an act called the Minders (of not much fame, but affiliated with The Elephant Six Collective). All the members add vocals, although Brownstein takes the most leads, with a few going to Timony.
The brutal truth about Sleater-Kinney (which also included Corin Tucker, who now fronts her own band) was that for all the influence it carried as the natural all girl extension of the 1990s riot grrl movement, the band was never an “easy” listen. In fact, for the most part, it was just the opposite: It would come close to a pop hook or a lovely melody and go in the exact other direction, as if to confound the listener’s expectations. Make no mistake, Sleater-Kinney rocked passionately, but its sound was all about the tension and the abrasiveness, and the songs were never “there” enough to make one perfect record.
In stark contrast, the “girrrls” in Wild Flag are now embracing the pop song, exploding everyone’s preconceptions about what a post-riot girl outfit might sound like. Like all the best bands, Wild Flag is more than the sum of its parts, and while it looks like a marriage made in heaven on paper, on record, it’s even better than one might expect.
It doesn’t sound like the quartet is trying too hard. It sounds like they’re having fun, and it’s also a fun listen.
That’s not to say that they’re all “shiny happy” pop songs a la like-minded micro-indie supergroup All Girl Summer Fun Band. Indeed, there is a toughness to their delivery, and the tension that permeates cuts such as “Future Crimes” is undeniable.
The single “Romance” that kicks off the record sounds like a manifesto in some ways: “We love the sound, the sound is what found us, the sound is the blood between me and you,” Brownstein sings. Wild Flag has a chemistry that binds all the disparate elements together: the hiccupping lead vox of Brownstein, the backing harmonies that align with the current girl-group revival, the pulsing psychedelic keyboard parts that anchor the interweaving guitar parts, the hand-claps sprinkled liberally throughout the tracks. All of it works, and the band sounds like a well-oiled machine.
Although it begins with a classic-rock flourish seemingly inspired by Golden Earring’s “Radar Love,” the Timony-led “Glass Tambourine” serves as a meditation on the delicacy of the counter-cultural movement of music. This is neither the “Green Tambourine” of The Lemon Pipers, nor is it the Black Tambourine proto-shoegaze assemblage destined for the influence category on the next-gen fuzz-pop masters. Nor is it Beck song “Black Tambourine” that may or may not have been an homage. Rather, it is a commentary on the delicacy of the music. Although on the surface it may sound tough and strong, the reality is, it could shatter just like any relationship (or band).
At the beginning of “Racehorse,” listeners could be forgiven for thinking they’re hearing a Led Zeppelin or Robert Plant cut, but Wild Flag throw in some Buzzcocks-like guitar lines a la “Noise Annoys” and once the vocals kick in, it’s clear they’re back in post-punk paradise.
If that’s really Timony on the lead vocals to “Something Came Over Me,” she’s never sounded so mature and self-assured. It’s telling that they have to “let the good times toll” before they can “let the good times roll.” She’s saying that good and bad must take their toll before fun can be had, and that seems to be the real breakthrough of Wild Flag.
“Black Tiles” finishes things off with an ascending and descending electric guitar line that sounds vaguely Middle Eastern, but it’s all Bawls-to-the-wall distorted guitar chords on the choruses.
Sonically, whether specifically inspired or an example of parallel evolution, there is a way in which the pivoting keyboard parts flesh out the sound of Wild Flag in a fashion similar to Chicago acts such as The Dials and Swiss Dots (formerly Telenovela). Without Cole’s keyboards, this could just as easily have been a Sleater-Kinney record without Tucker, and with the addition of Timony.
But of course, Wild Flag has discovered the power of pop and is not afraid to embrace it. Wild Flag is the summation of the girl-group legacy and the next sonic step for the remnants of the riot girl movement, even though they admittedly draw inspiration from musical history not limited to their punk and post-punk forebears.
Wild Flag – Wild Flag tracklist:
- “Romance”
- “Something Came Over Me”
- “Boom”
- “Glass Tambourine”
- “Endless Talk”
- “Short Version”
- “Electric Band”
- “Future Crimes”
- “Racehorse”
- “Black Tiles”
