Another release from Portlandia darling Carrie Brownstein‘s new band Wild Flag, the video for “Electric Band” is another fun and Stumptowny exercise in hipster comedy. The concert on the softball/baseball diamond is pretty gay, and reminds us all of the recently lost summer. All the ladies are visions in their (modified or not) vintage tees and Brownstein is especially hot behind home base as the catcher of a bursting water balloon.
Timony also takes a bigger vocal role in this song, which is a nice change of pace, and a lovely reminder of her lilting Helium voice.
A little insight into the video from Brownstein comes via NPR:
From left: Rebecca Cole, Carrie Brownstein, Mary Timony and Janet Weiss from Wild Flag
Carrie Brownstein, Janet Weiss, Rebecca Cole and Mary Timony, all members or the “indie-supergroup” Wild Flag go on Minnesota public radio talk about their first album and their current tour, not being a supergroup and the 20th anniversary of the seminal Nirvana grunge album “Nevermind.” This last is my favorite, with Weiss admitting she paid $1.99 to watch the video when 2 days later it was all over MTV.
You can listen to the spot in its entirety below and see video from one of the songs performed, “Short Version.”
From left: Rebecca Cole, Carrie Brownstein, Mary Timony and Janet Weiss from Wild Flag
Lots of excitement has been accompanying new Portland supergroup Wild Flagsince their formation last Summer. The quartet featuring Janet Weiss and Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney, Helium’s Mary Timony and The Minders Rebecca Cole been playing sold out shows locally and outside of the area sporadically in the precious few months of their existence. They are also slated to play at SXSW on March 18th.
Now, they’ve made their first single, “Glass Tambourine” available for online listening. A combination of 70s jam rock and 90s indie pop with a healthy dose of grownup 2011 revamping, “Tambourine” is a full and nuanced aural pleasure which you experience for yourself right here below.
From left: Mary Timony, Janet Weiss, Rebecca Cole, Carrie Brownstein
Amidst all the hype surrounding former Sleater-Kinney band member Carrie Brownstein‘s comedic project Portlandia, I hope you all haven’t forgotten that the funny lady still makes music. And her new band, Wild Flag, plays tonight at Bunk Bar (1028 SE Water St). With a tour in March, recording in April, and an album out in fall in the Flag is already flying.
To learn more about the super group, which also includes Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney, Quasi) and Mary Timony (Helium) and Rebecca Cole (Minders) check out an introduction to Wild Flag penned back in September. And to check out some of their angsty anthems check out videos from Portland live shows below.
Although many of us that came of age in the ’90s and early 2000s can point to several riot grrl and dyke punk influences, few bands that celebrated queer women’s music made it to the mainstream. Sleater-Kinney was one band that was able to cross that divide. So when they played their last shows in August of 2006, we all mourned their indefinite hiatus.