Wild Flag at Union Transfer.

It was a night for new beginnings in Philadelphia Wed., Oct. 19, as indie rock supergroup Wild Flag and a new band from Fiery Furnaces member Eleanor Friedberger cut loose on a crowd gathered at the month-old venue Union Transfer. For all the newness, though, it ended up being a night for older classic sounds. Either way, it was a good show.

Union Transfer, a new 600-capacity venue located in the old Spaghetti Warehouse on 10th and Spring Garden, is a joint partnership from Philly locals R5 Productions and Four Corners Management and New York City group Bowery Presents. In other words, no Live Nation, and that’s a good thing. The space has tons of room to move, but it’s not so large that it kills intimacy. There’s plenty room for drunks at the bars. Hell, there’s a bar in a whole other room, so hopefully people who come to concerts just to drink can get their fill without pissing off other attendees. The sound is a little dubious – muddled and bass-heavy – but that’s pretty much standard for a venue this size. Union Transfer is still independent and pretty cool. Also, they have a reasonably priced parking lot.

I had plenty of time to note Union Transfer’s layout (three bars!), as Friedberger took the stage about 50 minutes after her advertised start time. Supported by an ace backing band, she played through some easy going soft tunes that bordered on the Fleetwood Mac side of the rock ‘n’ roll spectrum. When the band got to grooving, the tunes were actually quite beautiful, but after a while Friedberger’s songs kind of blurred together for me. She has a tendency to repeat phrases just a little too much (“It’s a critical year / 2010” comes to mind), and several tunes felt too slow. While her latest material has a ’70s vibe, it still felt like an odd choice for pairing with Wild Flag’s looser, louder tendencies.

While there are still some records to look forward to this year, Wild Flag is easily one of the best albums of 2011. It’s fun and loud and awesome. Yet Wild Flag’s live show puts that record to shame. Everything Wild Flag does well in the studio, they do even better live. When Carrie Brownstein, Rebecca Cole, Mary Timony and Janet Weiss came on stage, they proceeded to have a whole lot of fun for 60-plus minutes while rocking faces off. Their tunes were more psychedelic, complemented by all manner of guitar poses ranging from high kicks to windmills. Timony even played behind her head at one point. Weiss and Cole’s cooed backing vocals were spot on throughout. The stage banter was hilarious (“There are so many steps to a stage dive, and they all end in the hospital,” said Brownstein. “This is like a Fugazi show,” responded Dischord alumnus Timony).

With only one 40-minute full-length to their credit, the biggest challenge the fearsome foursome faced in headlining this show was filling time. They certainly met that challenge head on with stage banter, covers (including an excellent take on Television’s “See No Evil” during the two-song encore) and a couple of new tracks. They also jammed the dickens out of the tunes “Glass Tambourine” and “Racehorse.” I wasn’t tracking it, but I’m pretty sure “Racehorse” went on for at least 15 minutes. There were like five guitar solos. The recorded version is just under seven minutes, and it actually sounds a little empty to me now, simply because the band so thoroughly explored its every nook and/or cranny live. Yet for all its freewheeling, rambling quality, “Racehorse” came off as a tightly written piece, with the members locked into each other the whole time. Yeah, it was a long-ass song, but it was a good one, building up and releasing tension several times over. Simply put, the Wild Flag tour needs to be seen by all. The gals are funny and furious in equal measure, and the tunes deliver some fine psychedelia.

Wild Flag - 'Wild Flag'

While I still miss Sleater-Kinney’s fiery punk passion, the former members’ follow-up projects have made one thing clear: Everyone is a winner. Singer/guitarist Corin Tucker released a mighty fine solo album, 1,000 Years, in 2010. Drummer Janet Weiss has been playing drums in about 95 percent of the world’s indie rock bands since SK split, but this year sees her recorded reunion with SK guitarist/vocalist Carrie Brownstein under the moniker Wild Flag. Mary Timony (ex-Helium) and Rebecca Cole (ex-The Minders) join on guitarv/vox and keyboards/vox, respectively, and the result is surprisingly classic rock-leaning.

I don’t mean that as an insult, either. Wild Flag ain’t Aerosmith, but it does recall acts like The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Mott the Hoople, and Ziggy-era David Bowie. After their debut seven-inch, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. Then and now, Wild Flag has embraced a retro-leaning sound. But they’re not robbing graves; just writing really catchy tunes.

Album opener and single “Romance” is the “hit” of the bunch, a rumbling, tumbling ode to the power of music. The drums push the song through a series of propulsive movements. Despite a first class chorus, the song’s best moment is actually the pre-chorus after the second verse, as the group collectively shouts out “Hey, you’ve got me crawling / You’ve got me spinning / Shake shimmy shake / First you wreck me / Then resurrect me / It’s too much,” over a bout of handclaps.

Track two, “Something Came Over Me,” is less immediate, but deceptively so. While it lacks the energy of “Romance,” the hooks are just as strong, carrying a ’60s girl group series of “la la las” along the way. Brownstein and Timony are the lead songwriters in the group, and while they’ve created a cohesive album overall, there are still clear indicators who’s better suited for what. Brownstein fronts rockers like “Boom” and “Future Crimes.” She goes big. Timony is more subtle. Listen to a tune like “Glass Tambourine.” It opens with a big Hendrix style guitar ‘n’ drums introduction before Timony starts switching between psychedelic interludes and plaintive vox. Brownstein brings attitude; Timony creates atmosphere.

Basically, Wild Flag achieves a nice balance. At 10 tracks, this record is fun without dragging, and Brownstein and Timony’s sensibilities differ from yet complement each other in all the right ways. Sleater-Kinney comparisons are still going to follow the group (especially since Wild Flag kind of picks up where The Woods left off), but hopefully that just means more people will tune in for more good music. Like I said, everyone’s a winner.

Wild Flag - 'Glass Tambourine'

In 1978, the four stadium rockers in Kiss saw fit to release four solo albums, reasoning that since people loved Kiss so dang much, surely four new Kiss records would sell better than one. They were wrong, but at least Ace Frehley gave the world his version of “New York Groove,” a perfect blend of glam, soul and sheer force of will.

Now it is the year 2011 A.D., and the members of Sleater-Kinney are, I am convinced, pulling a classic Kiss move. Last year, past and future SK singer/guitar slinger Corin Tucker dropped 1,000 Years, a stunning blend of classic rock and folkie conviction. This year, the rest of Sleater-Kinney, guitarist/vocalist Carrie Brownstein and drummer Janet Weiss, have finally issued their recorded debut as Wild Flag for Record Store Day. Also featuring Mary Timony (ex-Helium) on guitar and Rebecca Cole (ex-The Minders) on keyboard, Wild Flag’s first single is both a successful artistic endeavor and a cruel war on my wallet.

“Glass Tambourine” is the first of two songs, and it’s just different enough from Sleater-Kinney to disappoint on the first listen. Weiss is still a basher, but the tune overall is more psychedelic than anything SK ever pursued. Flecks of Jimi Hendrix Experience soloing and Summer of Love melodies drive this number, and in time its more psych-laden ways bury deep. Subvert and dominate.

“Future Crimes” has a little bit of that same psych touch, but it’s less trippy. Brownstein lays out a set of lyrics burning with longing while Cole tries to keep up on the keys. A nervous energy pervades. The guitars needle while the drums hold it down.

At only two songs, it’s hard to predict where Wild Flag will go beyond this single. But hot dang if things don’t look even more promising than they did before. Wild Flag: More business savvy than Kiss.

Vinyl Vednesday 4/20/2011

[Vinyl Vednesday is a weekly feature about three favorite vinyl finds. It’s not meant to be a dick measuring contest, but it usually turns out that way. Here’s a recap from Record Store Day 2011, and be sure to e-mail pelonej1@gmail.com with your own big finds!]

Records: Wild Flag’s “Glass Tambourine” b/w “Future Crimes” single (2011) on black, Death Cab for Cutie’s preview seven-inch for their upcoming album Codes and Keys (2011) on black, and The Bouncing Souls’ Complete Control Recording Sessions 10-inch (2011) on black.

Place of Purchase: My favorite record store, Repo Records in Philadelphia.

Thoughts: Record Store Day, the annual national event designed to get music fans away from their computers and actually into stores, was met with a metric shit-ton of rain here in Philadelphia. My fiancée and I packed two umbrellas and went out anyway, because we wanted vinyl exclusives, clam flammit. I reserved a lot of stuff through Repo, and I went in with the understanding that I probably wouldn’t be able to get everything due to limited pressings. But one release I absolutely hoped would be available was Wild Flag’s debut. I’m a huge Sleater-Kinney fan and this is the first recorded output from the new band featuring SK’s Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss. I’m going to write ‘n’ post a review later today, but the short answer is: Good, yay, surprising, and good.

Another seven-inch I desired was by Death Cab for Cutie. I played through their complete discography a few weeks ago and was amazed at how consistently they delivered great indie rock songs while gradually tweaking their sound. I couldn’t find a tracklisting for the seven-inch, but I figured it would be either a preview for Codes and Keys or a couple of B-sides. I was right, but not in a way that I wanted. The seven-inch contains a two-and-a-half-minute commercial for the new record on both sides. It’s very retro, right down to the label, and cute the first time through. Then I remembered that I paid $3.99 plus tax to get this release and got angry. SELL.

I was unable to get The Bouncing Souls’ Live at Generation Records RSD exclusive, but as far as I can tell, the limited release didn’t make it to Repo or a.k.a.. Kind of a bummer, but I still picked up the Souls’ other live release from that week, a joint release between SideOneDummy and Chunksaah called Complete Control. It’s a six-song live EP featuring that cover of The Misfits’ “Hybrid Moments” that the band started playing during their 20th anniversary tour. And it’s got Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba on vox! Being yet another live release from the Souls, it’s kind of a diehard-fans-only sort of thing, but it’s still pretty cool.

RSD 2011 was a little disappointing for me. I couldn’t get Live at Generation Records, some of the stuff I did get sucked (I also picked up a Jimi Hendrix single of unreleased jams that adds nothing to his discography), and it rained all day. I’m afraid that the holiday is nearing a breaking point in terms of quality control, but it’s hard to tell without plunking down cash first. On the plus side, my friends and I got crepes afterwards. GIVE IT UP FOR CREPES.