This could still have been on Kill Rock Stars. Or K Records. Wild Flag, comprising folks listeners may know from Sleater-Kinney, Minders or Helium, showed up last year with a self-titled disc a number of critics dumped onto year-end “best” lists. Some of the excitement revolving around this ensemble was due to nostalgia, but a few moments on the group’s disc bear out the fervor. “Future Crimes,” which was released as a single, really comes off as a vintage slab of seventies-style Brit punk—accidentally or not. The vocals don’t sound forced and the supplemental “Ohhs” and “Ahhs” actually add a bit of depth to the entire affair. Most albums include a few clunkers. And “Wild Flag” isn’t any different. “Something Came Over Me” is pretty troublesome. Letting the good times roll is well and good, but using the idea as a refrain isn’t. At least all those “la-la-las” make the track a bit easier to take in before “Boom” kicks in, sounding like it’s being delivered by a vampire, accent and all. Each composition exhibits a melodically adept ensemble, but some of the sentiments being expressed drag down the music. “Electric Band”’s a crap shoot–musically, it gets over. But the chorus sounds like it’s been plucked from a children’s album. So, combining the two makes for troublesome listening, which kinda sums up the entire disc. The momentary lapses in musical acuity sprinkled in during the course of “Wild Flag” unfolding only makes bands like Grass Widow (and sure, fault me for citing another all-femme group), which can pull off proper harmonies amid some tricky instrumental passages, seem like a big deal. Realistically, Wild Flag could be atrocious–and it’s not, to be sure. Even if it were, the group would still pull in a decent crowd based on the historical significance of its principal players. (Dave Cantor)
April 5 at Metro, 3730 North Clark, (773)549-4140, 8pm. Sold out. 18+.
For “Want” of a Change: A Preview of Rufus Wainwright at Ravinia Park Rufus Wainwright isn’t the first singer-songwriter to reinterpret earlier work through an orchestral lens. And much of Wainwright’s third and fourth albums, “Want One” and “Want Two”—whose twentieth anniversaries are the prompt for this new tour—is fully scored. But when Wainwright hits the Pavilion stage at Ravinia tonight, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra will be behind him.
Brutal Finesse: A Preview of King Crimson at Ravinia There have been few new compositions from King Crimson these past two decades, but the live arrangements of songs from its catalog are often strikingly different than the recorded versions.
Cooling It: A Preview of Colleen Green at Cole’s Bar When Green strums power chords or chiming notes on top of her backing track, you might think you’re at Ramones karaoke night and Madonna is taking her turn.
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