Naming a supergroup is serious work - THE HARD QUARTET thread

This is more than a Malkmus vehicle, they deserve their own thread.

https://www.stereogum.com/2271896/stephen-malkmus-matt-sweeney-jim-white-emmett-kelly-are-the-hard-quartet/news/

Guybrush
2 days ago
"Raise your hand if you've been personally victimized by Billy Corgan"

Quality comment

“You may be entitled to compensation”

Steve and Co
Can’t wait to completely ignore this. Actually I can start now

could've started two minutes ago

Hey, more for us!

First Hard Quartet single "Earth Hater" coming tomorrow per their Instagram

"who is Emmet Kelly" not revealed by initial google results

I was surprised to discover an acquaintance from high school has played with Kelly for the past few years!

the Malkmus/Sweeney pairing on Traditional Techniques was inspired so I'm really excited for this.

https://www.gq.com/story/exclusive-introducing-the-hard-quartet

So here’s that first track:

https://thehardquartet.bandcamp.com/track/earth-hater?utm_source=track_release&utm_medium=email&utm_content=fanpub_fnb_trk&utm_campaign=thehardquartet+track+earth-hater

And the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlveAf37fjE

I also could not remember who Emmet Kelly was, but I have listened to Natural Information Society a couple times and I vaguely remember BPB putting out those songs with Cairo Gang long past when I got deeply bored of him. Seems like the least “super group” worthy member by far. I’ll probably listen to this at least once because it has Jim White.

ugh this is not my thing at all
disappointed!

> I vaguely remember BPB putting out those songs with Cairo Gang long past when I got deeply bored of him.

I invite you to revisit that era, some of Will's best material imho:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kbemqxw37g

from GQ: Even the band name—a pun that benefits from saying it out loud

Ok at the risk of looking like an idiot - I dont get it?

i was wondering if it was a Four Tet pun - hardcore tet.

Kinda eh…but I’m more likely to listen to Molly Hatchet than Pavement these days.

Meat Puppets have been my old indie rock jam this past month.

the single is disappointingly slight

really like this so far

i think i like it? sweeney’s fingerprints are all over it.

I mostly like it too! It is slight, but imo it does the job nicely of giving me a taste and wanting more. Def hear the Sweeney influence here and the guitars sound great.

Xp Emmet Kelly is also the guitar player for Ty Segall. I feel that sound is in there.

it sounds like plenty of malkmus's work with the jicks, just it's bafflingly short.

i also hate the way the drums sound & sit in the mix

agreed with this^^^

the mix is weird. i assume they have a whole album in the can so looking forward to hearing more but yeah this isn't as exciting as I wanted it to be

A bit of an early 90s side project featuring Don Fleming vibe to this

This Is HardQuar

I kind of liked it.

Yeah, it's grown on me more since yesterday. I dig it and can't wait to hear more.

I think it helps that this all came about so suddenly and didn't give us much time to know what to expect.

https://evgrieve.com/2024/08/waiting-for-hard-quartet-video-on-st.html?m=1

i also hate the way the drums sound & sit in the mix

― ufo, Wednesday, July 31, 2024 1:32 AM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

Even the band name—a pun that benefits from saying it out loud—was the result of an organic process via group text thread

Barf

I don't get the pun -- what's the joke? That it sounds like "hard core tet"? What's a tet aside from Vietnamese celebration?
Usually I will give Jim White a try but i am not inspired by "Earth Hater" at all.

2xLP:

Tracklist leak:
Chrome Mess
Earth Hater
Rio’s Song
Our Hometown Boy
Renegade
Heel Highway
Killed By Death
Hey
It Suits You
Six Deaf Rats
Action For Military Boys
Jacked Existence
North Of The Border
Thug Dynasty
Gripping The Riptide

It’ll be interesting to see if this band and this album can win over the thread.

(I really, really hope they’ll do a CD for this, especially since Matador seems to be phasing out that format.)

Have they? I know their recent EPs have either been vinyl or digital only and the Butthole Surfers reissues didn't get CDs, but the other albums from this year did - Spoon reissue, Kim Gordon, Bar Italia, etc. Anyway, definitely hoping this gets a CD release as well!

It seem like the reissues/archival things are increasingly not on CD, while most “new” proper albums are.

Anyway, brother, here’s wonderwall:

https://thehardquartet.bandcamp.com/album/the-hard-quartet

new song is better!!!!!

https://pitchfork.com/news/the-hard-quartet-announce-debut-album-share-new-rios-song-video-filled-with-rolling-stones-easter-eggs-watch/?fbclid=IwY2xjawExg_ZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHVOupHcrHxgOx9ndbmHa4E7R2LV7-7ZDuwGfvHZE5L-HUYQHWirwhCKRJw_aem_Lj1bCVHGuCUb1s5R9JnTGQ

Must be some lengthy jams coming, both lead singles are sub 2 and a half minutes, but a double LP?

New song is better, still don't love the mix, White's drumming is the thing that is moving this to some place interesting

promo is 52 minutes — not quite sure how that pushes it into the double LP zone. no epics, longest song is about six and a half minutes. maybe there's some bonus stuff on side 4?

Maybe the 4th side is an etching about what good friends they are!

Malkmus does love a 3-sided LP, but looks like there are three songs on sides 3 and 4
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/0036919674_10.jpg

Matt Sweeney, a songwriter, guitarist, producer and vocalist best known for his work with Chavez, Superwolf, his music for Red Dead Redemption 2 and his guitar work in the company of a panoply of artists from Guided by Voices and Cat Power to Johnny Cash and Adele.

Disappointed in the Zwan erasure in the Bandcamp bio.

I think that’s probably intentional on his part.

(Zwan was great, though.)

Sweeney needs to do a Malkmus / Corgan Guitar Moves episode.

dang that would rule

"Rio's Song" is Matt's Church On White*, SM performing a similarly vibed solo.

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_Hackford

Ha, that’s Mark Ibold tending bar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0paI3MwISI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKLVmBOOqVU

(synch for comparison)

Ah well, waiting on a friend is almost twice as long.

Aging indie rock dudes having fun, I dig it.

^^^ That’s what this record is. Them doing them. I know it doesn’t satisfy everyone but I’m having a blast.

I liked the first song ok, but I really like the new one. I am also a sucker for that video. Lol @ Sweeney playing Jagger.

i like this more than "earth hater" but it's not exciting. interestingly it's credited to all four of them while "earth hater" was just written by malkmus

it's a pretty song. james lo is listed in the cast but still haven't found him in the video!

Glad they're putting this song out while it's still summer.

It would be fun to do an in depth contrast of Sweeney’s body language in this clip vs. that of Zwan’s “Lyric” video.

tbh after watching the "Waiting on a Friend" video i really wish Sweeney hammed it his Jagger impression even more in that.

help me remember: international bar is now the name of what once was coal yard, but the OG int'l bar is long gone, right?

same owner tho i think

getting big "thirteen" vibes from this track

malkmus makes a "stroke it noel" reference in one of the other tracks

how's the rest of the record or are you embargoed

i like it! the two tracks out now are fairly representative — one of my favorites seems to be kinda based on a woozy "i only have eyes for you" groove ...

I’ve had the promo stream for about a month and a half.

For the first couple days I was like “this is OK” but then it grew on me rapidly.

y...s...i...?

Seeing that list, it is probably too much to wish “Killed by Death” is a Motörhead cover.

growing on me for sure

getting big "thirteen" vibes from this track

― budo jeru, Wednesday, August 21, 2024 2:21 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

^^^

help me remember: international bar is now the name of what once was coal yard, but the OG int'l bar is long gone, right?

― budo jeru, Wednesday, August 21, 2024 1:19 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

https://evgrieve.com/2017/11/the-international-bar-closing-merging.html

just in case anyone else was curious

Really enjoying Rio's Song. Earth Hater not so much - I just don't like Malkmus's vocals.

Honestly I feel like Rio's Song is too short. Would love to hear an extended live version.

Same, for sure.

I'd go see them but $53 feels ambitious

I keep forgetting who the 4th person is, like Jeff Lynne

Who I had to look up bc I got him confused w Steve Wynn

Same. Although the name Emmett Kelly is memorable to me because I once got the idea that if we had a son I wanted to name him Emmett and my wife hated the idea and we didn’t have a son anyway.

Slightly funny thing is that I heard Rios Song first on the radio without knowing what it was, and my first thought was “this guys plays drums exactly the way they should be played”

Emmett Kelly’s moment to shine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAMWAzo_Y4k

Best one yet!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K33ptaQwD_Y

Thanks!

I will say that assuming Sweeney lives in NYC and that the Guitar Moves and other videos he posts are from his place, seems like he made good use of his Zwan $$$

dude has played on a lot of records, including some with presumably bigger budgets than even Zwan

I'm well aware, I was being a little bit facetious with Zwan. I know dude has carved out a nice career for himself.

I interviewed him on a podcast I used to do, he talked about having an acoustic that Neil Diamond gave him from a recording session

he did the soundtrack for a major video game that gave him a pretty nice payout.

Guitar Moves eps that i've seen have been filmed at Max Fish (the older ones) and also Rick Rubin's Shangri-La studio (the newer ones), also where The Hard Quartet was recorded.

Back on topic, my copy of this has been shipped, on target to get it Monday. Oddly excited to hear the whole thing.

I interviewed him on a podcast I used to do, he talked about having an acoustic that Neil Diamond gave him from a recording session

https://i.imgur.com/EnLV9wk.png

Anyway, it’s out!

https://thehardquartet.bandcamp.com/album/the-hard-quartet

I'm so obsessed with 'Our Hometown Boy'. I guess I should listen to more Cairo Gang?

I listened to that one twice when they released it and it was in my head for days. I'm waiting for the record to arrive before diving in again.

I'm so obsessed with 'Our Hometown Boy'. I guess I should listen to more Cairo Gang?

― cajunsunday, Friday, October 4, 2024 7:13 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Yes! the Goes Missing album is great.

The whole album is fucking great!

Right?

Three times through today and it may be my favorite thing that any of them have done. Even Earth Hater is awesome, in context.

It's very good and agreed that Earth Hater is much better in sequence.

Heel Highway sounds like something off Brighten the Corners.

yeah kind of wish that one turned into a longer jam thing — maybe it'll happen live.

I can’t get enough of Sweeney’s no pick electric guitar style. He and Malkmus are such complimentary guitar players. The album sounds to me what I imagine a (probably apocryphal) story I heard of Silver Jews opening for Pavement at Irving Plaza once. Malkmus and Berman brought a boombox on stage and jammed along to a Grateful Dead tape.

With others here I was a bit dubious of the first songs but as an album this holds together so well. I've listened to it twice through today and it is great isn't it. Very happy.

On my second listen now and I really like this. Heel Highway and Six Deaf Rats are Malkmus classics.

I don't know if this is just Jim White, but the songs have great weight and dynamics.

I know it won’t happen, but I’d love it if they worked at a The Smile-like pace.

Was having the same hopes after it started to click for me (and likewise expect...not very much)

“Six Deaf Rats” is a JOURNEY, one of SM’s best songs. (He’s clicked into a new, higher gear throughout this record though.)

malkmus's material here is some of his most pavement-esque since they broke up originally.

the album's decent enough but nothing to get excited about. it's at its best when they let the songs breathe like on "heel highway" and "six deaf rats"

Heel Highway is really good, still think Rio's Song is their best.

Digging "Hey". It feels like "Ramp of Death" pt 2, or a lost Brighten the Corners outtake

I mentioned Brighten the Corners previously and that is definitely the album this reminds me of most.

No wonder I’m liking this so much, that’s my favorite Pavement record

I think of all these songs “Hey” might be the one I’ve returned to most often

Agreed that it’s a cousin to “Ramp of Death”, which is among his finest solo songs.

I'm a big fan of Brighten The Corners too. Prob my 3rd fave of the albums behind S&E/WZ

“ In between takes, the band kicked back and glued brains over Slade and Terry Stamp, the mouthpiece of proto-punk heroes Third World War. “They had a turntable at the studio for vibes,” reveals Malkmus. Mainly, the broader “good feel” rested on simply being together and shooting the breeze. “There’s a lot of hanging out in this band,” Malkmus continues. “Sometimes I imagine this is how hip hop records are made because there was a lot of weed and a lot of chilling. That’s the feeling I got from my friends who were engineers at hip hop sessions. So we really got to hang, joke and do old man stuff.””

https://thequietus.com/interviews/the-hard-quartet-stephen-malkmus-interview/

Lotta great interviews out there

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/story/vf-interview-stephen-malkmus

I feel ill-equipped to offer rational comment on a record so up my alley, but one thing I'll throw into the conversational ring is that this really reminds me of what I love so much about the soft boys, especially can of bees and the singles: this mix of psychedelia and english hard rock with a weird sense of humor and punky leanness. "six dead rats" doesn't work that particular angle but I agree it's a great, great song - instantly one of my favorites malkmus has written since pavement.

liking mentions of ramp of death and BtC, some of my fav malkmus. those guitarzzzz man

srsly how did I miss this thread. I had no idea of the existence of this project. I've been listening for the last hour -- just what I needed, reminding me that I don't much listen to new American guitar rock.

It's so good. I'm just gonna say that.

Ok that's not all I'm going to say. It's kind of remarkable that SM made his most Pavement record for decades while touring with that band and then NOT doing this material with them guys. I mean I get it, this sounds like a Pavement album with guys that can play. BTC-era OTM.

I like the other guys songs as well.

Yes. I like the two non-SM singles better than SM's single. Sweeney's acoustic number is really nice as well.

A little taken aback by how much I like this. Not that it's all about Malkmus BUT I've tended to slide off SM albums after 2 or 3 songs (glazing over during a jam or w/e) & I think the diffusion here is probably what I need, Malkmus as one interesting flavour among others. First four tracks so good & the middle run is getting under my skin now.

There was at least one song that reminded me of early GBV, trying to remember what it was

"Hey" borrows the sloppy cha-cha-cha from Like Flies On Sherbert's "Hey Little Child"

Every song is my favorite song in whatever mood/time of day. I’m going with Hey for now because of the lyrical motif. Symmetrical and so satisfying.

been getting Chilton vibes from this

malkmus makes a "stroke it noel" reference in one of the other tracks

― tylerw, Wednesday,

"Six Deaf Rats" iirc

I had to Google that

agree that the singles work better in context

the surprise for me has been the mellower songs--so good. the back half of the record is amazing

At first the stuff on the back end didn’t wow me as much but those are the songs that are haunting me at random times now

the surprise for me has been the mellower songs--so good. the back half of the record is amazing

― a (waterface)

I was instantly attached to the malkmus songs, but was listening to "north of the border" this morning and thinking about how he'd never be able to pull off something so wounded/heavy that without a feint or sense of affectation. even, like, "fin" by pavement - which I think occupies a similar mode - has that boyish, sloppy quality to hedge the bet. the conviction of white's drumming helps a lot in that respect.

on first listen i enjoyed the whole thing though it felt a little long, kinda saggy in the middle, but "rio's song" and "our hometown boy" are incredible

I agree it's too long and exhausting, but they're having fun. When Malkmus gets petulant about pouring out some claret in "Thug Dynasty" it's a Steve unseen in years.

This album is the opposite of exhausting.

the only lyric i can remember is "geek out on your amazing quirks" lmao why did he include that

this album feels refreshing

like good claret?

kinda!

maybe a splash of sparkling water too

be at your place weather permitting around 5:30 p.m.

When the singing starts on "Reenegade" I can't help hearing the tune of "This diamond ring doesn't shine for me anymore"

The more I play it the more I love it

When the singing starts on "Reenegade" I can't help hearing the tune of "This diamond ring doesn't shine for me anymore"

otm. if husker du covered this diamond ring w/grant on vocals, this is exactly what it would sound like.

AMA on the indieheads Reddit today ... answers are every bit as oddly tossed off-but-illuminating as you might guess. worth reading if you care about this project enough.

I am excited to see them next week. Hoping they jam things out a bit like Pavement did on the last reunion.

My LP arrived today

Got mine yesterday & works nicely as 4 sides of vinyl imo

Incidental to the album, but Malk’s Portland houseis for sale.

That’s how I learn that Malk lives in Chicago now…

holy shit, how is that house in that location only $1.07M??

That is some house! I was in awe.

If last night’s show leaks online please post it here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrklE7FGIk4

🤟🏽

"6 Dead Rats" reminds of some older Modest Mouse song ("Dramamine"?)

Huh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg7qTxREXbo

xp it does have a very modest mouse feel yeah

a little disappointed with my first go with this album. I was in the car so maybe it wasn’t the best setting, but there didn’t seem to be a lot of hooks. I’ve found most of malk’s work over the past 15 years pretty hit or miss, but the reaction from those in this thread had me expecting something a lot different

Keep listening. My first two or three listens didn’t fully grab me either.

(I know it’s annoying to hear someone say “you just gotta keep listening, man” but this is a case where additional listens resulted in me being totally won over.)

def will give it another try. the big star ripoff one was great

The Matt Sweeney songs are the highlight imo.

I just had this on repeat for a whole day and it basically feels like a familiar classic now

yeah i dunno this grabbed me right away, it's crazy good. as good as Trad Techniques or his best solo stuff

"Rio's Song" is Matt's Church On White*, SM performing a similarly vibed solo.

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_Hackford

― Mrs. Ippei (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, August 20, 2024 2:08 PM (one month ago)

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBFUrt2NFgy/

Watching live you can see how much he borrows so much from "Church On White".

The Matt Sweeney songs are the highlight imo.

― mizzell, Tuesday, October 15, 2024 5:07 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

are the credits are listed anywhere?

the individual songs on spotify have credits if you click through

ok. according to spotify the songs are either written by malkmus or the whole band, so which ones would be the matt sweeney songs?

Rio's Song
Killed By Death
It Suits You
Jacked Existence

the liner notes have vocal/instrument credits for each song.

yah the album has liner note credits.

Budo, curious, which songs are listed as written by SM on Spotify?

(The physical CD lists all the songs as written by the whole band.)

The Malkmus-y ones you expect: "Earth Hater," "Hey," "Action for Military Boys," etc.

🤟🏽

xp some of us are not pavement scholars so that's what i'm trying to understand. "malkmus-y" doesn't mean anything to me

spotify gives SM sole credit for these tunes:

Chrome Mess
Earth Hater
Renegade
Heel Highway
Hey
Six Deaf Rats
Action for Military Boys
Thug Dynasty
Gripping the Riptide

Thanks, Budo.

some of us are not pavement scholars so that's what i'm trying to understand. "malkmus-y" doesn't mean anything to me

― budo jeru,

References to clarets sung in bemused tones.

How is this album the first time Malkmus has worked Donald Barthelme into a lyric?

He sounded suitably Barthelme-esque without the explicit callback, I guess.

lol @ Pavement scholars

Whoever is singing lead vocals is presumably the one who wrote the song or at least the lyrics.

I feel like everyone is 100% on their A-game here, in every aspect. MORE!

i've always trouble recognizing ppl's voices whether it's john/paul lou/doug or whatever. just trying to convey that i haven't really ever listened to pavement or sweeney's projects and i've only heard this record a few times. if i'm just supposed to know who is singing and it's stupid to ask then sorry for posting

No one protested! It's all good.

Budo, I had to ask the publicist for a breakdown of credits for this very reason, because Kelly and Sweeney’s voices aren’t familiar enough to me that I could easily tell them apart at first…

It’s all good.

that was @ PKBR. your comment was funny. yeah, it's all good, was just clarifying

your comment = alfred on the claret

Raymond, i was happy to list those credits for you! was responding to PKBR like i said

thanks also to mizzell for clarification

PBKR, sorry ... not my best day, coherence-wise

I’ve found most of malk’s work over the past 15 years pretty hit or miss, but the reaction from those in this thread had me expecting something a lot different

i think people are just happy to have him working in a pavement-y mode and it's one of the better things he's done since real emotional trash, but i don't quite get the excitement either really

Six Deaf Rats a contender for my favorite. The way White navigates those parts where the song falls apart is so good.

Real Emotional Trash never did anything for me. I've made it through possibly twice.

One thing is that I would take pretty much every non-Malkmus song on this album over every single non-Malkmus Pavement song.

Like North of the Border is seriously good. Weird spare menace.

This makes me want an entire album of Sweeney material. His song contributions on this are sublime.

Y'all Pavement nerds should check out Traditional Techniques if you like Malkmus/Sweeney collabs (plus the guy from Decemberists... plus Qais Essar!). It was 4 years ago but it seems like a decade ago. It didn't have the hype/$$$ that Pavement/The Hard Quartet had/has behind it, but it's a great record:

https://stephenmalkmus.bandcamp.com/album/traditional-techniques

^ brilliant record for sure

This makes me want an entire album of Sweeney material. His song contributions on this are sublime.

― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Thursday, 17 October 2024 11:40 (four hours ago) link

it's pretty different from his contributions to this album but the chavez albums are incredible

if you don't already know them

I know it would never have happened with the egomaniac running the show, but I would have loved to have gotten some Sweeney and/or Pajo written songs for Zwan.

big trad techniques fan over here

My favorite Malk since 2005 for sure but his solo albums don't stick around for me.

TT is interesting, though I tend to return to it less often than the others, and on a random song basis. I’m glad he did it!

The Sweeney songs sound a lot like the Superwolves record from a few years back, too.

Jim White doing rock drumming is especially fun here. Fan of him otherwise too, but the fill near the start of "Rio's Song" is a good example.

The Matt Sweeney songs are the highlight imo.

― mizzell, Tuesday, October 15, 2024 6:07 PM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

never in doubt imo

in terms of the overall flow of the album i could have done with like two less malkmus songs. as much as jim white makes things interesting, he is in his plod mode for a lot of this.

Great show tonight. Jim White is so fun to watch play drums. He dances behind the kit.

what did they play? just the album or did they throw in any covers or songs from other bands or anything?

They played the album in sequential order.

^^^
They did a little reprise of Action for Military Boys at the end. I was hoping for a cover.

SM seemed to be having more fun than with Pavement. They all seemed to be into it.

he was in pretty good spirits when i saw him with pavement last year

idk if i'll go see the hard quartet though, they're playing here but i'm not sure it's worth it if they just play the album

fun show tonite. lots of passing of the bass among the three guys in front.

live version made it clear that "thug dynasty" owes more
than a little to "i only have eyes for you."

also they should change their name to mangenius

(or softboygenius if they'd prefer)

I think they should re-appropriate SKWM

This makes me want an entire album of Sweeney material. His song contributions on this are sublime.

― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Thursday, 17 October 2024 11:40 (four hours ago) link

it's pretty different from his contributions to this album but the chavez albums are incredible

― na (NA), Thursday, October 17, 2024 12:23 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

already a big Chavez/TradTech fan - i mostly meant this iteration of Sweeney material is really grabbing me and would love to see more of this vein mined.

Speaking of Silkworm, the loose, Stonesy, dare I say chooglin’ quality to the playing on Hard Quartet comes closest to matching the off-hand magic of the Crust Brothers Marquee Mark CD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLTwPUno3TM

xps Yeah, lots of big Trad Techniques fans around here (myself included). Think that album's gotten more favorable attention on ilx than most other post-Pavement Malkmus albums have.

The Hard Quartet album rules. Agree with everyone that it's the most Pavementy thing Malkmus has done since Pavement. I get some of the comparisons to BtC ("Heel Highway" specifically has some parts that sound like certain parts of "Type Slowly" and "Starlings in the Slipstream"), but to me the vibe of this album is pretty different. Reminds me more of Pavement before BtC (but after S&E). It has that same kind of looseness.

Outside of the Malkmus songs, "Our Hometown Boy" is the major standout for me. There's the obvious Big Star influence, of course, but I also hear it starting off as a pretty good Dave Davies song in the verses and then turning into a beautiful Ray Davies song in the chorus. I don't like "North of the Border" as much, but I really like the guitar on that song. Reminds me of Malkmus's playing on some Silver Jews stuff. Thinking "Federal Dust" and this release in particular: https://www.dragcity.com/products/hot-as-hell-live-1993

The Matt Sweeney songs that aren't "Rio's Song" work best for me if I think of them more as interludes or disconnected parts of a suite than as full-fledged songs in their own right. They're of a piece with each other in a way that stands out against the relative eclecticism of the rest of the album, and they're a good bit shorter than all the songs they fall between. I like them and I'm glad they're there though! The album feels more epic for being able to take a few stops along the way to be like "hey, let's see what Matt's up to now."

But yeah, "Hey" is gorgeous. That and "Six Deaf Rats" are the ones I really can't get enough of. Loooove the breakdown in the middle of "Action for Military Boys" too. There's a whole lot to like all over this album.

this album is a great example of the gap that exists between "really great songwriters" and "one of the best to ever do it"

no shame in being one of the former, of course. i enjoy their tracks. but SM's songs are a different species ... and, i mean, his best here are lucky if they make a CD-length compilation of his all-time best tunes, right? his consistency has been patchy for a couple decades now, but he's still capable of towering highs.

I've listened to orders of magnitude more of SM than the other two songwriters, but I don't think his songs are better than the other two. He has the two worst songs on the album.

well, that may be true ... i haven't listened to it trying to determine the worst songs. which two are you talking about?

For me, the first two tracks. I've come to like them a lot, but I don't think them as much as everything else.

think = like

Great last night in London. On the album I like Our Hometown Boy, Rio's Song, Jacked Existence about as much as the best of the Malkmus tracks but live the big mid-album SM ones - Six Deaf Rats particularly - felt a step ahead - space, looseness, dynamics, lyrics.

new tour dates, very stoked!

if you see this band and Sharp Pins open, don't miss them! i can't promise they're good live, but this year's album is great: https://sharppins.bandcamp.com/album/radio-ddr

psst — 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OlctYkxkjQ

Thanks, tylerw!

grabbed tickets for the boston show next year, always nice to have something to look forward to.

I love the simplicity of playing the debut album in order live.

This Cairo Gang record (The Corner Man) I bought for $3 is awesome.

This will mean the most to the gearheads, apologies if it was already shared

https://guitar.com/features/stephen-malkmus-matt-sweeney-the-hard-quartet/

live session with Nate The K on WFMU (starts at 1h3m51s):

https://ftp.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/145817

Jacked Existence
North Of The Border
Hey

followed by an interview with Matt & Emmett.-

And now we’ve got a set up on Archive for org fam

https://archive.org/details/thq2024-10-22/04+Rio's+Song.flac

A 10 minute version of “Six Deaf Rats”?!? Yes, please.

https://thehardquartet.bandcamp.com/album/lies-something-you-can-do-coreopsis-trail

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pahCJlZuMgc

New single, an Emmet Kelly number

B-side is a psych fuzz growler

RIYL endless bourgie

Oh, this is great 👍🏽

Both of these tracks rip. Fucking love this band.

Good. The Bside gives me a European Son vibe. But, That's not SM on vocals??

I had to listen a couple of times to realize it wasn't SM. Emmett Kelly's voice is normally much better, lol.

Steve Shasta nearly stumbled upon a perfect iLM handle, “endless bougie.” I’ll leave it for someone else.

I dare you to open the noize board EBoog thread and witness the drama me saying that ~20 years ago caused 😂