Brandon takes back everything he’s said over the past two months. (Not exactly.) But he does realize that with Sleater-Kinney gone, he should be grateful for what he can get. And Wild Flag is no meek substitute.
Hear full Wild Flag album stream!
Wild Flag Album Trailer
From: Brandon Hall
To: Natalie Snoyman
I know I wrote this in the tease to your post, yesterday, but isn’t grunge supposed to be apathetic? Isn’t that the point? Plus, if it’s coming back, that means it’s probably being perpetrated by hipsters, for whom, as we all know, sincerity is Kryptonite.
Maybe not, though. I’m already talking myself out of it. Kurt Cobain definitely cared. And even if you want to make an argument that Nirvana wasn’t really grunge – an argument I always want to make – Eddie Vedder, Chris Cornell, and the lot of them also really cared. I suppose the flannel just made them appear apathetic.
I’m pretty much with you. I really like Wild Flag. I think “Romance” is definitely one of the standout tracks and is almost equal parts early Sleater-Kinney and The Go-Gos, which is really the sweet spot for Wild Flag, as a band. I think that and “Glass Tambourine” feel more unique to this new project than many of the other songs – songs I really enjoy, but bring to mind S-K or other bands and occasionally fall short by comparison.
Was there really any doubt, though, that these ladies were going to deliver? I thought your valediction in yesterday’s letter, a line from “Romance,” was apropos to the album as a whole. The full four bars of that indelible chorus are “We love the sound, the sound is what found us / Sound is the blood between me and you.” This is an album by musicians who’d been away from the game for a little while, except for my personal hero, Janet Weiss, and missed making music. Having played together in various fashions for the past two decades, the four of them worked on a score for a documentary and kind of just kept it going. Mary Timony even flew back and forth from her home in D.C. to Portland in order to practice with the band. Then, and this is my favorite part, instead of relying on their name, cutting an album and touring to promote it, they pretended they were small time, scheduled a series of mini-tours playing in small clubs like Spaceland in LA, where they figured out their dynamic and sound. They were so old fashioned about it, it’s adorable!
They really do represent the power of music, the compulsion to create it, and the bond it builds. I love that about the band. But objectively, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t a little disappointed; not because they didn’t deliver, but because they delivered exactly what I expected. I wish that didn’t disappoint me. I’ve spent the last couple months talking about bands that may or may not be “one-trick ponies,” bands that can do everything but lack an identity, super groups that lack a distinct purpose or cohesion, and I can’t help but feel that I’m being terribly unfair. I think the problem is with me, not them. What should I expect from The Rolling Stones but The Rolling Stones? Fleet Foxes are never going to RAWK. Dan Bejar isn’t suddenly going to sing like Sufjan Stevens. Furthermore, I would be appalled if any of that happened! So Wild Flag sounds like a band that used to be Sleater-Kinney with a couple other members who used to open for Sleater-Kinney. And considering S-K is gone, I’ll take it. And be damned happy with it. This is a solid debut by some of the best the business has ever seen. And I can’t imagine I’ll have to worry about a sophomore slump.
One question before I go – who were the other all-female bands you found yourself comparing Wild Flag to?
“For all we know, we’re just air for the length of the song,”
Brandon
Wild Flag is out 9/13/2011 via Merge.
Pre-order Wild Flag here
AudioVole 
Discussion
No comments yet.