I think the majority of folks coming across the new music project The Hard Quartet would scoff at it being called a “supergroup”. But those with their heads in the world of early 90s college/alternative rock would think the label apropos. The band – which consists of Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus, Chavez and Superwolve’s Matt Sweeney, The Cairo Gang’s Emmett Kelly, and indie rock drum guru Jim White – has the collective musical history to be a supergroup. Malkmus, Sweeney, and White have been knocking around the indie rock scene for over 30 years, and Kelly has played on a who’s who list of records by artists as diverse as Ty Segall, Angel Olsen, Cat Power, and Bonnie “Prince” Billy to name a few.
I think they’ve earned the moniker.
On The Hard Quartet’s debut self-titled LP these four celebrate the buzzing, jangly beauty of the guitar. Songs ranging from punk rock bruisers to Stones-y swagger to bluesy soul, there’s a beautiful kind of abandon here that brings up both nostalgic feelings of what came before, while celebrating the songwriting process between musicians sitting in a room and hashing it out.
The album opens on the gangly rocker “Chrome Mess”, combining the fuzzy guitar superpowers of college rock’s glorious past into a garage rock cannon blast. When you hear Stephen Malkmus sing you can’t help but think of Pavement, or the Jicks, and “Earth Hater” has the ghost of the latter’s Real Emotional Trash haunting the spaces between the lines.
That’s not a bad thing, but thankfully the band shares vocal duties and “Rio’s Song” comes rolling in like a cool ocean breeze. Matt Sweeney’s vocals resemble a sober-ish Keith Richards and the song has a soulful lean with some sweet guitars layered over it. “Our Hometown Boy” has a ramshackle power pop vibe, bringing to mind The Byrds in the ringing vocal harmonies.
The album ebbs and flows between grimy guitar fuzz and bluesy nighttime swagger, all being carried on the great Jim White’s fluid, jazzy drumming. The punk rock blast of “Renegade” is balanced out in equal measure with the folksy “Killed By Death”, or the bluesy dirge of “Heel Highway”.
The Hard Quartet left their egos at the studio door and came together as four longtime friends. It’s a stunning debut from four rock and roll lifers.
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