There are bands that go to drink from the sacred fountain of rock and take a sip or two, others just rinse their mouths. The Hard Quartet go there to drink big and with all eight of their lips. They are an indie supergroup made up of kindred spirits who released a delicious, irreverent, guitar-filled album last Friday. On one side there is Stephen Malkmus of Pavement and the Jicks, on the other Matt Sweeney of Chavez and Superwolf. At their side are Jim White, the legendary drummer of Dirty Three, and Emmett Kelly, Ty Segall's bassist. You can't go wrong with people like that: they are the Traveling Wilburys of the Matador label, you just need to listen to them to enjoy the vibrations that their friendship transmits.
Malkmus and Sweeney are two of the most tireless and unpredictable artists to emerge from the world of '90s guitar bands. They were part of supergroups more than “normal” bands. One wrote a piece in which he questioned the raison d'etre of the Smashing Pumpkins, the other played in Zawn, Billy Corgan's meteor group.
Here they make a big mess based on crazy rock like the one we heard in Traditional Techniques by Malkmus, with Sweeney working to create a sort of deranged hippie folk experiment. And saw the band playing on Traditional Techniques remained confined between the walls of a garage due to the pandemic, now the two want to make up for lost time.
The album opens with the 70s rock blast of Chrome Messagingwhich recalls AC/DC in glam style and contains a prayer addressed to Sister Sludge. Then there is Rio's Song by Sweeney, with harmonies reminiscent of Chavez and certain enigmas in the lyrics (“How long and how high do we ride / While we wait for the shadow to answer?”). The video is a remake of that of Waiting on a Friend by the Stones, with Malkmus as Mick and Sweeney as Keith. It was filmed on New York steps immortalized on the cover of Physical Graffiti of Led Zeppelin.
Malkmus plays guitar in a style that may recall Richard Thompson in the prime Heel Highwayone of those brilliant ballads that he could write even while sleeping (indeed, that's probably how he composed it), with poetic images that are a bit off in the manner of Pig Lib or Real Emotional Trash by the Jicks, like “Scraping up some liquid hash / Made so the colors flash.”
The Hard Quartet have even more fun in the second part of the album, when the listener usually stops paying attention. The songs become longer, relaxed, shabby. Jacked Existence is a beautiful acoustic dirge in the dark style of Traditional Techniques. Then Malk, surprisingly, brings out some ballads using one of his favorite ways of writing lyrics: the one that sees him in the role of the unlikely life coach, the same one he played in Major Leagues, Malediction, Share the Red or Middle America. A bit like in those songs, he goes on motivational tirades about getting out of the comfort zone in search of human interactions that we would otherwise avoid. As in Hey And Six Deaf Ratswhere he confesses: “I wasn't made to be indifferent to everything I see / Annoying the frat boys, that's what amused me.”
On October 1st Pavement held a concert in New York, a date one shot organized to promote Pavementsthe mockumentary about the band directed by Alex Ross Perry. It was a great party where we listened to pieces from the first EPs such as Debris Slide, Box Elder and the incredible Perfect Depth. The impression is that the Hard Quartet is a pastime not to be taken too seriously, yet in here there is a good dose of Malk, his guitars, his singing. You never know what to expect from people like him, Sweeney or the others in the group. One thing is certain: the Hard Quartet are the fruit of the wonderful, dazed inspiration they share.
From Rolling Stone US.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
