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| It was a fleeting moment in time... |
Wild Fang was a short-lived, cross-country super-group, a mash-up of members from Helium, The Minders, and Sleater-Kinney – but mostly Sleater-Kinney. The latter had disbanded about five years prior (2006 to 2011) and, in her very thorough telling (this is the source for a lot of what's below), Carrie Brownstein had even stepped away from music. At some point during 2010, she, Janet Weiss (both of Sleater-Kinney) and Rebecca Cole (The Minders) got invited to contribute to a project called “[!Women Art Revolution]” and a quirk in the creative process made Brownstein think of Mary Timony (Helium). Over the next several months, that accidental collaboration lead to a couple handfuls of songs and, eventually, touring. Extensive touring, as it happens, and with a mission:
“I think one of the reasons we toured so much before the album came out was because we almost wanted to give people a chance to reject it.”
Based on what little I read Wild Fang, different members brought different motivations to the project. As alluded to in the quote above, Brownstein got to a spot where she missed music (Weiss, probably less so; she stayed busy), but didn’t want to go through being Sleater-Kinney again. With 13 years between Helium’s last unplugging of the mics and Brownstein’s phone call, and after burning out on solo projects, Timony was already thinking about collaborating when Brownstein reached out. Cole, meanwhile, had looked hard enough for something to do to find graduate school. They got together in the end, put out an album, and held together for three years, or thereabouts.
When they called it quits, Brownstein blamed logistics, but maybe Cole outlined the future we she talked about the excitement about the work that kept Wild Flag going. They only managed the one album. It’s a decent album, certainly not offensive, but I can barely remember the two songs that I posted on the weekly Spotify playlist (and grudgingly, more “plus-ones” than invites; the songs are “Endless Talk” and “Racehorse”). If you find it (username: snackyd), you’ll see plenty of Helium and Sleater-Kinney on there, so this probably has less to do with the artists involved, than how they fit together.
“I think one of the reasons we toured so much before the album came out was because we almost wanted to give people a chance to reject it.”
Based on what little I read Wild Fang, different members brought different motivations to the project. As alluded to in the quote above, Brownstein got to a spot where she missed music (Weiss, probably less so; she stayed busy), but didn’t want to go through being Sleater-Kinney again. With 13 years between Helium’s last unplugging of the mics and Brownstein’s phone call, and after burning out on solo projects, Timony was already thinking about collaborating when Brownstein reached out. Cole, meanwhile, had looked hard enough for something to do to find graduate school. They got together in the end, put out an album, and held together for three years, or thereabouts.
When they called it quits, Brownstein blamed logistics, but maybe Cole outlined the future we she talked about the excitement about the work that kept Wild Flag going. They only managed the one album. It’s a decent album, certainly not offensive, but I can barely remember the two songs that I posted on the weekly Spotify playlist (and grudgingly, more “plus-ones” than invites; the songs are “Endless Talk” and “Racehorse”). If you find it (username: snackyd), you’ll see plenty of Helium and Sleater-Kinney on there, so this probably has less to do with the artists involved, than how they fit together.
To get the harshest digs out of the way, “Boom” and “Electric Band” are straight-up hokey, agony-as-lyrics, etc. As for the rest, I find I like the songs more when I read what went into them – sometimes on an evolving basis (see “Glass Tambourine”). Some other good things about band dynamics came in – e.g., the difference between playing in a four-piece versus a three pieces – but the best thing I read about Wild Flag, as a project/moment, came from Timony:
“It’s weird, because I don’t think I’ve ever really made a record before that sounds like the music I really like. Which is kind of fun about the new album.”
Now, how to describe Wild Fang? First, most of it’s not a radical departure from Sleater-Kinney’s wild(er stuff that I know), but like that with guard-rails. It’s definitely more indie-punk than the sludgier stuff Timony came up with for Helium (e.g., The Dirt of Luck). It’s poppier than a lot of Helium’s work, but I think a case could be made that Timony was headed in that general direction with The Magic City. That doesn’t mean “Something Came Over Me” couldn’t slip onto an earlier Helium album without anyone noticing, but the majority style rules on this, and that’s Sleater-Kinney’s weight. I don’t know much about Cole (and I should; I have The Minders in my collection and all I remember about them is not liking them), but, since I didn’t get a ton of psychedelic sounds/approaches from Sleater-Kinney or Helium, I’ll credit those to Cole.
I just I realized (to my horror) that I haven’t said one damn thing about who did what in Wild Flag. From what I gather/hear, Brownstein managed guitar and (most/some?) vocals, while Timony played lead guitar (Brownstein rates her the better guitarist; also, some/more vocals), Cole played keys and handled the bass register through it all (and to good effect; I like their rhythms better than their melodies), while Weiss, as always, beat the holy shit out of the drums. [Ed. – Weiss recently got in a car crash, and has started a fund-raising pitch for it; thought I’d give people the option.]
That’s everything – and, for what it’s worth, the goal is to keep things that short going forward. As hinted at up above, I compile playlists as I’m researching these posts, which means I bump into things as I’m working on those. As for this week, wanting to answer the question of who did more what within Wild Flag lead me to reconnect with Sleater-Kinney, who I’d literally deleted from my digital archive, and Helium, who I really only knew from two songs: “Pat’s Trick” and “Lucy.”
For reasons that don’t matter, I wound up focusing on Dig Me Out and The Woods for Sleater-Kinney and The Dirt of Luck and The Magic City for Helium. First, they’re all good albums, if just for fans of those sounds, but both The Woods and The Magic City can stake claims as singular achievements for each band. First, if you listen to The Dirt of Luck and The Magic City one after another, what Timony says here will make sense:
“Writing out of anger is an easy framework, and that's one reason I don't do it now. I remember hearing Patti Smith say that she stopped playing music because she wasn't angry anymore. I could totally relate, except that I want to keep playing. Lately I'm more into the idea that making music is fun. I want it to be a collaborative, creative thing, rather than using music as a tool.”
I admire Brownstein’s comments on The Woods even more:
“It felt like a better time to go out, as you said, instead of fade away into obscurity or obsolescence or unimportance. That’s a depressing way to cap off a decade-long career. So even though there was a lot of sadness, and certainly there were a lot of reasons for continuing, it felt like the right time in other ways. Like, ‘Well, we’ll leave, in my opinion, on one of my favorite Sleater-Kinney albums.’ I think any of us would say that was one of the albums we’re most proud of.”
In order, The Magic City felt like a step forward for Helium, something that gave them more personality, while The Woods felt like Sleater-Kinney finishing some thoughts, that, on the musical side, they hadn’t before. One shift was tonal, the other production, but both of them worked for me. At any rate, I got a kick out of the contrast between those two groups of two albums.
Finally, I got really into what turned into a pair of albums by a band from Shreveport, Louisiana called Seratones. I bumped into them thanks to….shit, Spotify (they get it right sometimes) with “Get to Know You,” and they’ve been filed away ever since. This feels like a sound description/cultural reference for them:
“The band consists of four members that met through attending different punk rock shows around the area. The members began teaching each other about different genres of music which is when they discovered their sound.”
At any rate, they’ve been killing the Louisiana circuit for years (I don’t know if that’s a thing), and it turns out they’ve lately added a fifth member – Tyron Corker, on keys – and they’re coming to Portland Sunday, September 1. (Buying tickets now.) I’m two albums in on Seratones – Get Gone and Power – and I have yet to hate even one song off either of them. If you find my playlist for this week, you will find them over-represented. That is all.
“It’s weird, because I don’t think I’ve ever really made a record before that sounds like the music I really like. Which is kind of fun about the new album.”
Now, how to describe Wild Fang? First, most of it’s not a radical departure from Sleater-Kinney’s wild(er stuff that I know), but like that with guard-rails. It’s definitely more indie-punk than the sludgier stuff Timony came up with for Helium (e.g., The Dirt of Luck). It’s poppier than a lot of Helium’s work, but I think a case could be made that Timony was headed in that general direction with The Magic City. That doesn’t mean “Something Came Over Me” couldn’t slip onto an earlier Helium album without anyone noticing, but the majority style rules on this, and that’s Sleater-Kinney’s weight. I don’t know much about Cole (and I should; I have The Minders in my collection and all I remember about them is not liking them), but, since I didn’t get a ton of psychedelic sounds/approaches from Sleater-Kinney or Helium, I’ll credit those to Cole.
I just I realized (to my horror) that I haven’t said one damn thing about who did what in Wild Flag. From what I gather/hear, Brownstein managed guitar and (most/some?) vocals, while Timony played lead guitar (Brownstein rates her the better guitarist; also, some/more vocals), Cole played keys and handled the bass register through it all (and to good effect; I like their rhythms better than their melodies), while Weiss, as always, beat the holy shit out of the drums. [Ed. – Weiss recently got in a car crash, and has started a fund-raising pitch for it; thought I’d give people the option.]
That’s everything – and, for what it’s worth, the goal is to keep things that short going forward. As hinted at up above, I compile playlists as I’m researching these posts, which means I bump into things as I’m working on those. As for this week, wanting to answer the question of who did more what within Wild Flag lead me to reconnect with Sleater-Kinney, who I’d literally deleted from my digital archive, and Helium, who I really only knew from two songs: “Pat’s Trick” and “Lucy.”
For reasons that don’t matter, I wound up focusing on Dig Me Out and The Woods for Sleater-Kinney and The Dirt of Luck and The Magic City for Helium. First, they’re all good albums, if just for fans of those sounds, but both The Woods and The Magic City can stake claims as singular achievements for each band. First, if you listen to The Dirt of Luck and The Magic City one after another, what Timony says here will make sense:
“Writing out of anger is an easy framework, and that's one reason I don't do it now. I remember hearing Patti Smith say that she stopped playing music because she wasn't angry anymore. I could totally relate, except that I want to keep playing. Lately I'm more into the idea that making music is fun. I want it to be a collaborative, creative thing, rather than using music as a tool.”
I admire Brownstein’s comments on The Woods even more:
“It felt like a better time to go out, as you said, instead of fade away into obscurity or obsolescence or unimportance. That’s a depressing way to cap off a decade-long career. So even though there was a lot of sadness, and certainly there were a lot of reasons for continuing, it felt like the right time in other ways. Like, ‘Well, we’ll leave, in my opinion, on one of my favorite Sleater-Kinney albums.’ I think any of us would say that was one of the albums we’re most proud of.”
In order, The Magic City felt like a step forward for Helium, something that gave them more personality, while The Woods felt like Sleater-Kinney finishing some thoughts, that, on the musical side, they hadn’t before. One shift was tonal, the other production, but both of them worked for me. At any rate, I got a kick out of the contrast between those two groups of two albums.
Finally, I got really into what turned into a pair of albums by a band from Shreveport, Louisiana called Seratones. I bumped into them thanks to….shit, Spotify (they get it right sometimes) with “Get to Know You,” and they’ve been filed away ever since. This feels like a sound description/cultural reference for them:
“The band consists of four members that met through attending different punk rock shows around the area. The members began teaching each other about different genres of music which is when they discovered their sound.”
At any rate, they’ve been killing the Louisiana circuit for years (I don’t know if that’s a thing), and it turns out they’ve lately added a fifth member – Tyron Corker, on keys – and they’re coming to Portland Sunday, September 1. (Buying tickets now.) I’m two albums in on Seratones – Get Gone and Power – and I have yet to hate even one song off either of them. If you find my playlist for this week, you will find them over-represented. That is all.
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