Let The Good Times Toll

Wild Flag “Something Came Over Me”

Wild Flag is more surprising and interesting for me as a Mary Timony fan than as a Sleater-Kinney fan. Carrie Brownstein is very much in her element and her obvious thrill in playing energetic, fun rock music is one of the top selling points for the band in general. Even still, when she sings I can’t help but hear the absence of Corin Tucker, who complemented Carrie’s rock spirit with raw, visceral emotion. Timony’s a very different foil, but even when she’s singing lead on songs that boast her distinctive singsong and curling guitar melodies, I hear Brownstein’s influence on her style and phrasing. It’s not a bad thing, though – after a decade or so of solo records full of good ideas that didn’t always translate into great music, it’s exciting to hear Timony sound so focused and bold. She’s never sounded so extroverted! “Something’s Come Over Me” is the best of her lead vocal tracks – there’s a flirty quality to it, as though she’s revisited the sexuality of her early Helium material but replaced her early-20s coyness with a forthright, mature femininity.

Buy it from Amazon.