The best thing about Wild Flag is the harmonies on Carrie Brownstein's guitar, or Janet Weiss aweinspiring drums. Not even the riot grrrls supergroup aura.
The best thing about Wild Flag is how much fun they are.
Songs like "Boom" and "Racehorse" and "Romance" make me smile with pleasure. It let's loose in sex and sound, it blows away the cobwebs. At Radio City earlier this year they exuded confidence and pleasure and friendship, and they let us in on it. More than Sleater Kinney post-Call The Doctor, this album is just everything rock and roll should be: fun.
Wild Flag are a funner and yet jammier art-rock band even though 2/3rds of SK are here, At the center of the album is "Glass Tambourine" . On stage it is a major workout, a Sonic Youth-y no new york y obstreperous rave up. Recorded, there is an edgier blues to it. It is central but not their best.
Their best are two songs that flip each other. "Romance" is a twisty, angular rocker about the love of music that dare not speak its name. Carrie's voice is so iconic and it carry's this enormously fun and when former helium girl Mary Timony it is both surprising and exciting. The other song is "Boom" a staggeringly good song, a nursery rhyme for adults, and how is this for a lyric: "I,2,3,4 -I like the way you move around the floor"? One love of music, the other love and love.
And the band move between the two subjects until they become one.
There isn't a song here that doesn't work for me. They are all excellent. It is 40 minutes of sustained rock and roll excellence, that expresses why the band came together and where they would like to go.
One of the best albums of the year.
Grade: A