A five part conversation between Brandon Hall and Natalie Snoyman about Wild Flag’s eponymous debut. Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss, two-thirds of honest-to-God super group Sleater-Kinney, have joined forces with Mary Timony of Helium and Rebecca Cole of The Minders to bring back the 90s because they were a better, simpler time. With Zuba pants. And Tim Allen.
Hear full Wild Flag album stream!
Wild Flag Album Trailer
From: Brandon Hall
To: Natalie Snoyman
Natalie! I miss you. It’s been almost a year since we saw Wild Flag at Spaceland in LA. A year since I shouted out, “Hey Janet!” as Janet Weiss, walked by me, and turned, surprised, to say “Hi” to no one because I had already turned away in embarrassment. A year since I stared at Carrie Brownstein across the room watching the opener, debating for a good thirty minutes whether or not to approach her. To my credit, I let the woman/superhero be. And it’s been a year since we walked out of that show all geeked out about what a totally rocking, kick-ass experience that was. That’s how I felt, anyway. Unless you were just being nice to me, a definite possibility, I think you felt the same way.
And I think it might have been only their second show ever! Obviously, I suppose we shouldn’t have been surprised. This is another pseudo-super group featuring some of the best ladies in the business for the past 20 years. Carrie and Janet from the tragically disbanded Sleater-Kinney, Mary Timony, formerly of Helium, sharing vocals, song-writing, and guitar-shredding duties, and The Minders’ Rebecca Cole working the keys. If these women had never met and just decided to jam together one day, it’d probably still be pretty great. Worth noting, also, is that this album was recorded live except for the vocals in a place called The Hangar, a Sacramento recording studio that sometimes doubles as a skate park! Before this album was released for streaming, I had been digging around for some early Wild Flag songs and came across a live bootleg that doesn’t sound totally unlike their debut, which, of course, has decidedly less applause, but otherwise doesn’t feel much less live.
I could go on at length about Carrie and Janet. Since Sleater-Kinney, Carrie has taken over the world as a writer, blogger, actor, comedienne, and joined forces with Fred Armisen to make the internet sketch show ThunderAnt, and the IFC show, Portlandia. Janet didn’t miss a beat, immediately becoming one of Stephen Malkmus’s Jicks and continuing as the drummer of Quasi, not to mention getting scooped up by every huge indie band you’ve ever heard of when they find themselves suddenly in need of a fucking amazing drummer.
As for Mary Timony and Rebecca Cole, Natalie, I honestly don’t know much. I’ve never heard Helium or The Minders, and only know The Minders as a part of the Elephant 6 collective. Do you know much about these women?
Sorry. I don’t know that I needed to spend so much time talking about the actors. It’s just that Sleater-Kinney was and is one of my favorite bands. I think their last album, The Woods, was actually their best. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO LEAVE ME AFTER YOUR BEST ALBUM!? I NEEDS MOAAAAR! It was like Michael Jordan retiring after his ’93 championship. (At least I hope that’s what it’s like, because I want them to come back and be like ’96 Jordan, not old, bad knees, Wizards Jordan that I wish we could all just erase from our memories.)
And so, as a Sleater-Kinney disciple, I find myself in a weird place when listening to Wild Flag. I think a number of songs pick up where The Woods left off. The guitar solo/noise break-down in “Glass Tambourine” sounds at times almost note for note like The Woods’ “Let’s Call it Love.” “Racehorse” is an epic rocker that clocks in at six minutes and forty seconds, and that song, along with closer “Black Tiles” would have fit nicely on The Woods, though every Wild Flag song is noticeably bereft of Corin Tucker’s banshee yelp.
And that’s the thing. I can’t listen to Wild Flag without comparing them to Sleater-Kinney. Their sound is too similar and I find myself drawn to the more Sleater-Kinney-esque elements than the occasionally Go-Gos sounding pieces that you find in “Electric Band,” “Glass-Tambourine,” and a number of other songs.
In an interview with the Village Voice, Carrie said, “We’re touring a bunch, and if people show up because they like Sleater-Kinney, we’ll weed them out. We want people to come to our shows because they like WILD FLAG.”
Yeah, but I like Wild Flag because they sound like Sleater-Kinney.
What do you think, Natalie? Does Wild Flag sound like a new band to you? Is there a chance they find an identity of their own? Maybe they should try making folk music or electronica or pop. Horrible ideas all, but, otherwise, I feel like I’m just going to wish they were Sleater-Kinney as opposed to a close approximation.
“Cracked mirrors on the lawn,”
Brandon
Wild Flag – “Romance”
From: Natalie Snoyman
To: Brandon Hall
Oh, Brandon. You shouting “Hey, Janet!” was certainly one of the more memorable moments from that evening. And just for the record, my enthusiasm for that evening’s performance was in no way me “just being nice.” Do you know how long I had been waiting to see Carrie Brownstein’s high kicks in person? A long time, my friend.
I’ll be completely honest and tell you that Beavis and Butt-Head introduced me to Helium. I purchased their album The Dirt of Luck from the Warehouse down the street from my middle school but it never received much play. On the other hand, Sleater Kinney’s Dig Me Out is one of my favorite albums. “One More Hour” still makes me want to cry every time I listen to it. That said, I think it’s pretty obvious that I have strong nostalgic and emotional ties to these two bands. How could I not compare Wild Flag’s self-titled album to anything and everything I’ve heard from these women before? Like you, this is something I struggled with before I sat down to listen to Wild Flag.
I listened to the album for the first time yesterday — Labor Day. Taking advantage of the fact that I could go into a deserted office (not my own) and get some work done, I took over an empty cubicle. I realize this makes me sound like I broke into said office but please believe me when I say this is not the case. As I listened to Wild Flag, there were definitely a few moments when I felt the need to run around playing air guitar, dancing like Christopher Walken in Pennies From Heaven but I’m a little too uptight for that. So there I sat, listening to the album from Alexander Schwing’s ergonomic desk chair.
While there were definitely some high points on the album, I wasn’t quite blown away upon first listen. Later that evening, though, I rode the bus home and re-listened to the album and I felt… something. I’m not sure if I can only chalk it up to change of environment, but every song sounded better on that bus. The first track is amazing and I love it even more after seeing Tom Scharpling’s music video this morning. “Romance” is a brilliant first track. It’s energetic, catchy as heck, and says (kind of explicitly), “We’re here and we really like playing music.” And they do it well. So well, in fact, that I can forget about the fact that Carrie Brownstein has been one of my personal heroes since teenhood.
I wouldn’t say this is a ground-breaking album by any means but I would say it is an excellent one. These women are pros. And the more I listened to their debut album, the harder I fell for Wild Flag. So, instead of comparing the band members to any of their past projects, I found myself comparing them to some of the other all-female bands out there today. I welcome the musical complexity and passion Wild Flag offers and these are the things that make this a stand-out album for me. Indeed, I find today’s grunge revival annoyingly apathetic and Wild Flag is anything but.
“Sound is the blood between me and you,”
Natalie
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
Not a lot of Wild Flag material out there, just yet. So, for kicks and nostalgia, here’s the last song Sleater-Kinney ever played on stage:
Sleater-Kinney – “One More Hour”(live from Crystal Ballroom 12/08/06)
From: Natalie Snoyman
To: Brandon Hall
Well, you’re right. Grunge : Apathy :: Peanut Butter : Jelly. They go together. But, to be honest, I don’t categorize my favorite bands from this era as “apathetic.” When I listen to some of today’s grunge revivalists (is it boring if I don’t want to name names?), I don’t get much out of it. I’m sure they care a great deal about music, but there’s nothing personal about it. Am I allowed to say there’s no passion in the apathy? Because that’s kind of how I feel. Lyrically and musically-speaking, however, Wild Flag is not apathetic. Perhaps that’s what I find to be one of this album’s greatest accomplishments — not to mention a refreshing change of pace.
I actually did have my doubts about this album before I listened to it. Just because a band has everything going for them doesn’t mean their output will automatically be great, after all. Just because I happen to like Destroyer and A.C. Newman doesn’t mean I’m automatically gonna love the New Pornographers. But that also doesn’t mean I expected the New Pornographers to sound like the love child of Destroyer and A.C. Newman.
That said, I think you were completely justified to have expectations from a project like this. It’s almost impossible not to if you’re at all familiar with Sleater-Kinney, Helium, the Minders, etc. I’m curious, though, exactly what your expectations were. It seems like you think of this album as a lost Sleater-Kinney record but I’m just not getting that feeling from it. I mean, Carrie Brownstein plays the guitar like Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss plays the drums like Janet Weiss but I feel like Wild Flag is presenting something new to listeners. It may sound familiar, sure, but I think this effort also sounds fresh.
“Five, six, seven, eight,”
Natalie
From: Brandon Hall
To: Natalie Snoyman
Yes, it’s boring if you don’t name names! I asked for names!
What were my expectations? I don’t know. I don’t know that I had expectations.
You know what I loved about S-K? “One More Hour.” “Dig Me Out.” “Jenny.” “Let’s Call it Love.” “Modern Girl.” “Night Light.”
Songs that felt personal, that were heart wrenching or angry or punched you in the face. Or, almost exclusively to The Woods, songs that were structurally thrilling – 8 minute fuzzed out, pedal-heavy, guitar-solo instrumental breakdowns.
Maybe it’s just an artifact of getting older. The angst and drama of life so pervasive as a young adult mellows with age. This is an album by musicians who needed music more than they needed love. I guess I just don’t find that as compelling.
“If you’re going to be a restless soul, then you’re going to be so so tired,”
Brandon
Wild Flag is out 9/13/2011 via Merge.
Pre-order Wild Flag here
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