Wild Flag - Wild Flag
- by Al Brown Release Date:2011-10-10 Label: Wichita Recordings

Wild Flag are a new band made up of the constituent parts of various other American alt-rock bands (can I use that term anymore? Sounds a bit 90s, but then, well, more on that later.) Most noticeable among them are the unique vocal talents of Sleater-Kinney's Carrie Brownstein, but fellow Kinney alumnus Janet Weiss drums and Mary Timony (ex-Autoclave, Helium) plays guitar.
Wild Flag share some of Sleater-Kinney's traits, but they are mellower: Brownstein doesn't get a chance to unleash many trademark howls. Occasionally, it's like she's trying on a few new voices: 'Boom' sees her tastefully affect some of Patti Smith's tics and wobbles, and 'Racehorse' has some of the general galloping ebb and flow of Smith's 'Horses'.
The sequencing is thoughtful throughout with upbeat, shoutier numbers alternating with mellow ones, but apart from that there's not a huge amount of variation, and still fewer surprises. The production is cleaner than you'd expect: too clean, truth be told. The straight-ahead rock of 'Short Version' and 'Electric Band' don't necessarily suffer for it, but more abrasive fare ('Boom', 'Future Crimes') lacks bite. 'Electric Band', though, is full to the brim with euphoric, crunchy goodness and 'Glass Tambourine' is a floaty California acid-trip.
We've got to come to the elephant in the room at some point though, so here goes: the album is completely, undeniably retrograde. Musically it's like a trip back to 1998. And there's something about the lyrics too; when Brownstein sings "Uh-oh uh-oh/ but you're coming through the stereo", it's like when Stephen Malkmus sang a similar thing on 'Stereo' or when Damon Albarn was "Feeling heavy metal": you want to believe it means something (and if you were still 15, by God, you could) but you know it's probably just facile, feel-good bullshit. And it is that feeling, combined with the predictability of every riff, every second lyric, that makes this record something you could comfortably recommend to any 90s nostalgia-fiends in your life - but also what stops you, my discerning Soundblab reader, from ever really buying into it.




