Wild Flag

Merge records release has an edge to the pop this time: Girl group that combines elements of late 70’s London No Wave (Slits, Kleenex, Delta 5) with Motown Girl Groups, and pop/punk (think Bangles/Go Go’s meet Long Beach faves Red Aunts). Excellent crunchy melodic guitar hooks, surfy drums, rich layered vocals, and a cool simple organ. Moments of sweet Casual Dots tossed in too, Breeders, early 90’s Helium, Cakelike. Mr. Esq would probably mess himself all over this, give it a meow or two. All tracks are great.

1) (3:51) upbeat, tribal drums w/ a taste of surf, melodic pop chorus and hip shakin hand claps, shoo bop
2) (4:02) minor toned, a tad darker w/ pretty guitar work
3) (2:44) upbeat w/ sinister organ and a near horror rock feel
4) (5:28) almost ballady, slower and strummy, simple phrased vocs, surprise a capela break in middle
5) (2:59) midpaced classic pop, smacks of the Raspberries or something 60’s with a playful organ hook and doowoppy back vocs
6) (3:34) upbeat pop with no wavey feel, cool guitar hooks and melodies
7) (3:33) slower with a “nicer” feel, big tribal surf beat and an overall epic pop feel
8) (2:44) Casual Dots style guitar, driving pounding urgent drums countered with simple clean Wurlitzer organ
9) (6:40) smarmy rocker feel, bordering on something the Runaways might have penned, jammy in fact
10) (4:29) great upbeat pop w/ sultry vocs, soars like old Helium from 1994