Girl Power?
Sleater-Kinney fans can finally rejoice! Ex-members Carrie Brownstein (vocals/guitar) and Janet Weiss (drums) have teamed up with Helium member Mary Timony (vocals, guitar) and The Minders’ Rebecca Cole (keys) to compile not only a supergroup—Wild Flag–but a self-titled album as well. Reminiscent of a band Daria would listen to, or maybe Kat Stratford from Ten Things I Hate About You, Wild Flag is refreshing. For those of us who have had a hankering for a decent hot female angsty-sounding rock group, anyway.
“Romance” starts off the album with catchy guitar riffs and a better, revised Brownstein voice compared to the Sleater-Kinney days. A listener is bound to take her more seriously this time around: “We got an eye, an eye for what’s romance/We’ve got our eyes, our eyes straight on you.” But then we change pace in “Something Came Over Me” when Timony takes over as lead vocals. We’re still getting our fix of the “na-na-nas” and “oh-oh-ohs” and “shoo-wops” that we hear in other songs, along with haunting yet sexy voices, but Brownstein’s voice takes you to a nostalgic pop-punk mindset while Timony sounds more “indie.”
Unless, of course, you’re talking about Timony in “Glass Tambourine.” Then the alt-rock sentiments will ring a little less loud, and a lot more her experimental style. Timony sounds almost frightening reciting “glass tambourine” over and over. Then the end of the song is a whirlwind of listenable experimental bullshit, partly because it’s trippy, and partly because you’re reminding yourself you’re listening to a bunch of semi-famous rock chicks jamming and it’s kind of intriguing.
You’ll find other goodies throughout, like “Electric Band” and “Racehorse,” and none of the songs are flat out bad. Once these ladies develop an even stronger knack for integrating their own personal styles, we may find ourselves listening to a 5-star record. And the new-age Darias should have no shame in listening to Wild Flag.
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