Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

THIS SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED AND CLOSED.

Please join the conversation over on our new forums »

If you really want to read this, try using The Internet Archive.

Wild Flag

Wild Flag

Label: Wichita Release Date: 10/10/2011

79727
Teepee_uk by Tom Perry October 10th, 2011

At some point in your life, you may accomplish something of worth. It may be a beautiful marble statue, it may just be a well balanced cup of tea, but that accomplishment is yours. It's in the bag, it's safe. But what happens after that accomplishment? You have accomplished, so everything will be judged from there. 'What now?' asks the universe, 'What next?'. Wherever you go, you start from a cosmic 'You Are Here' sign on the map. To the North, the Devil. To the South, a deep blue sea. To the West, a rock, to the East a hard place. Choose your own potential misadventure. If there is any solace to be had here, it is to know that you are not alone.

Take Wild Flag, for instance. Their members, not unlike a cumulative Chuck Norris, have a lifetime of achievement between them. Rebecca Cole, formerly of the Minders and The Shadow Mortons takes her seat at the keyboards. Janet Weiss, former drummer in the Jicks, Quasi, Sleater-Kinney returns to the drum stool. Carrie Brownstein, also of Sleater-Kinney and Mary Timony, of the lesser known Helium share vocals and guitar duties. It isn't a super group, more a combination of like-minded musicians. A band, if you will. But a band with previous, with achievement. And everybody, overtly or covertly, will be judging them from what they've done. Are they as good as Sleater-Kinney?

That's a very subjective question. Sleater-Kinney were unmatched in making danceable indie rock that sounded different from everyone else, and Wild Flag seem to fit into the same category. The new unit could be seen as a progression from the former if you wished, and songs like 'Boom' are effectively indistinguishable from that template. But given repeated listens, Cole's keys signal a distinct shift towards new wave, and occasional nods to classic rock abound. The slick, overdriven intro to 'Glass Tambourine' will have you whistling it on the way to work, and 'Racehorse' seems to be a Stones song ripped from elderly clutches, tuned up and driven through the mansion gates. Languid and louche, it isn't hard to imagine Mick strutting his way through it as a blues number, although the repeated refrain of "We're in the money!" would sound more vulgar from his lips. It's a six and a half minute masterclass in how to mine a groove, a jam that has been reined in and honed to excellent effect. There's a pleasing Anglophile nod in the otherwise average 'Endless Talk', with Brownstein letting her vowels drawl out all Lahdan like for a second or two. It doesn't distract from the song being a throwaway though. 'Electric Band' is pretty dull too, even if the playing never drops below exemplary standards, it just seems to go nowhere.

Luckily, Wild Flag are easily as adept at penning a pop song as their former outfits were. 'Romance' is terrific, a single in the traditional sense, all hip shakes and handclaps, with a rock bridge before the final chorus that most bands just aren't inventive enough to think of, let alone actually attempt. 'Future Crimes' is a floor filler, propelled headlong by Weiss pounding the drums as if her life depended on it, and the rest of the band wrap around that airlock of a beat with a fidgetting keyboard line and short, stabbed guitar phrases.

Whether you come to this album fresh, or as a former fan of some other bands the members used to be in, Wild Flag offers a lot to the listener. There might be a little dip in the middle, but when you start strong and finish better, a little hammocking in the middle isn't such a terrible thing. It's a worthy album for consideration should you find yourself browsing in a record shop of a Saturday afternoon and fancy something at once familiar and different. Wild Flag have achieved success on their own terms by being able to offer such a choice to you. As such, they're back on the map. They Are Here.

  • 8
    Tom Perry's Score
Log-in to rate this record out of 10
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »


LATEST


  • Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024


  • Drowned in Sound is back!


  • Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Year: 2020


  • Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter


  • Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing


  • Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alternative must sees



Left-arrow

Jeffrey Lewis

A Turn in the Dream-Songs

Mobback
79717
79725

Matthew Herbert

One Pig

Mobforward
Right-arrow


LATEST

    news


    Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024

  • 106145
  • news


    Drowned in Sound is back!

  • 106143

    news


    Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Y...

  • 106141
  • news


    Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter

  • 106139

    Playlist


    Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing

  • 106138
  • Festival Preview


    Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alterna...

  • 106137

    Interview


    A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash

  • 106136
  • Festival Review


    Way Out East: DiS Does Sharpe Festival 2019

  • 106135
MORE


    news


    The Neptune Music Prize 2016 - Vote Now

  • 103918
  • Takeover


    The Winner Takes It All

  • 50972

    Takeover


    10 Things To Not Expect Your Record Producer To...

  • 93724
  • review


    The Mars Volta - Deloused In The Comatorium

  • 4317

    review


    Sonic Youth - Nurse

  • 6044
  • feature


    New Emo Goth Danger? My Chemical Romance confro...

  • 89578

    feature


    DiS meets Justice

  • 27270
  • news


    Our Independent music filled alternative to New...

  • 104374
MORE

Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2025 DROWNED IN SOUND