Something Wild

Wild Flag – Wild Flag

Olympia’s Sleater-Kinney had always been a band that I liked, but kind of had a hard time really getting into. I guess I just always found myself hoping they had more songs like One Beat’s “Oh!”, which is considerably more, well fun, than their more overtly political and feminist material. So it’s nice that an album like Wild Flag’s debut exists, since it basically sounds like that song spread out over 40 minutes of hooky guitar-driven girl rock.

Now the reason I bring up Sleater-Kinney is pretty obvious, since Wild Flag is made up of Sleater-Kinney’s guitarist/singer (and Portlandia co-star) Carrie Brownstein and drummer Janet Weiss, as well as members of the bands Helium and The Minders. So yeah, Wild Flag is more or a less an “indie supergroup”, but unlike something like Monsters Of Folk, the band’s sound is a bit more cohesive. This is probably due to the fact that Brownstein obviously serves as the band’s guiding force, as her blistering guitar and vocals are really what drive the band’s sound. Still, keyboardist Rebecca Cole adds a nice texture that wasn’t there in Sleater-Kinney, while Janet Weiss’s thunderous drumming proves once again that she can pretty much make any band sound huge.

For the most part the songs exude a more poppy approach to punk rock, often wavering between jaunty singalongs and more foreboding material. And since they are after all a supergroup, Wild Flag does occasionaly delve into classic rock histrionics on the somewhat psychedelic “Glass Tambourine” and the sprawling “Race Horse”. But for the most part, this is just a refreshingly energetic little rock album in a year that maybe could’ve used a few more albums like this.

Favorite Tracks: “Romance”, “Electric Band”, “Racehorse”

Will Comply

Wilco – The Whole Love

It seems like it’s been ages since I did that Wilco Retrospecticus, doesn’t it? Well despite the fact that this album’s been out for a while, I don’t feel like I have a ton to say about it since I don’t really find Wilco to be the funnest band to write about. Still, The Whole Love does mark a noteable point in Wilco’s career, as it sees the band coming full circle in more ways than one.

The Whole Love marks the first release on Wilco’s own label, dBpm, which kind of just seems like a logical step in Wilco’s career considering their well-known disputes with record labels. So with this new sense of freedom, does that mean that Wilco have vied to go in the more radical and experimental direction that marked their earlier music? Well for the most part, yeah. The Whole Love features quite a bit of the more unpredictable moments that made albums like Being There and Summerteeth so enjoyable.

And though there is a considerable amount of sonic noodling on The Whole Love, at the same time Wilco often seems like it’s still in that same breezy comfort zone that it was in on Sky Blue Sky and Wilco (The Album). For the most part that totally works in the album’s favor, as the more upbeat songs like “I Might” and “Standing” are among the most infectious songs the band has done in a while. And even some of ballads have that great Americana-inspired quality that captures a lot of that old Wilco magic. So who knows, maybe the band will continue to pursue their more eclectic roots, but for now it’s just nice to hear a veteran band challenging themselves while still sounding comfortable in their own skin.

Favorite Tracks: “I Might”, “Dawned On Me”, “The Whole Love”

Recap: Zombcon 2011

I know it was like two weeks ago but I just realized I never wrote about Zombcon 2011. I was waiting for Paul to post pictures on Facebook but seeing as he is still yet to do so I might as well write about it before I forget anymore details. For those who aren’t familiar with Zombcon I’ll fill ya in. Zombcon is Seattle’s premier Zombie convention held every October since…. You know I’m not sure, for all I know last year was the first one ever. This year the convention was moved from the Seattle Science Center Convention Hall to the SeaTac Hilton. Although I preferred the previous setting and last year’s setup (guests, events, layout) Zombcon 2011 was still a great opportunity to meet some of my favorite B-movie horror stars.

Continue reading →

C.A.T.: Flip Your Wig

Hüsker Dü – Flip Your Wig (1985)

I’m just gonna guess that we’re not doing Whovember for another week or two, so I’ll just go ahead and return to our year-by-year CAT’s for at least this week. I pretty much knew I had to do a Husker Du album for 1985 since they managed to put out two unbelievable albums that year with New Day Rising and Flip Your Wig. Really I could’ve gone with either album, but since Flip Your Wig doesn’t usually get quite as much attention I’m going with that one, as you probably already figured out.

So the story of Husker Du is one that is pretty similar to that of their Minnesota brethren, The Replacements. The Huskers started off as an earsplitting hardcore punk band, but with 1984’s Zen Arcade, they started to incorporate melody more and more into their loud, fast, and uncompromising sound. New Day Rising saw songwriters Grant Hart and Bob Mould delving even deeper into more melodic songs, and Flip Your Wig sees the band sounding even more like a pop group while still maintaining that punk rock edge.

It’s almost kind of shocking to hear how ahead of their time Husker Du sound on this album. With their signature brand of ragged vocals and fuzz-drenched guitars enveloping these pop songs, they completely sound like the kinds of alternative rock bands that would come to dominate the early to mid-’90s. Songs like “Makes No Sense At All” and “Flexible Flyer” have that great hazy guitar sound, and for the first time you can actually understand most of the lyrics on the album. So in many ways Flip Your Wig is probably the most accessable album in the Husker’s discography. Of course, this interest in more accessable material simply wasn’t enough to lift Husker Du out of indie rock’s underground despite signing to a major label after Flip Your Wig. Instead, the music world would have to wait a few more years for three dudes from Aberdeen to finally bring this kind of music onto the national stage.

Favorite Tracks: “Makes No Sense At All”, “Divide And Conquer”, “Flexible Flyer”