Stephen Malkmus’ new band, The Hard Quartet, share debut single
Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus’ new band, The Hard Quartet, have officially launched with the release of their debut single, ‘Earth Hater’.
The Hard Quartet’s existence was only revealed on July 16th, and now, the first taste of their sound has been shared. The snappy two-minute track is an intriguing introduction to the four-piece, comprised of indie veterans, and features Malkmus’ distinctive vocals at the front and centre of the new creation, with more music set to follow at a later date.
For those unaware, in addition to featuring Malkmus, the line-up of The Hard Quartet also features Emmett Kelly, Matt Sweeney and Jim White. While Malkmus’ career with Pavement, the Silver Jews and The Jicks speaks for itself, the other members are incredibly accomplished in their own right.
Drummer White is also a member of Dirty Three alongside Warren Ellis, and the trio recently released their first album in 12 years, Love Changes Everything. Sweeney has been a member of Superwolf, Chavez and Skunk, as well as providing music for the video game, Red Dead Redemption 2.
Finally, Kelly is another established member of the rock fraternity, having contributed to records by Angel Olsen, Ty Segall and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy. He’s also released music under the alias, The Cairo Gang, and is part of The Double and The CIA.
Although they’ve now released ‘Earth Hater’, there remains a degree of mystery surrounding the new outfit, amplified by a press statement issued on behalf of The Hard Quartet which reads: “The Hard Quartet is a band. But what is a band? A band, perhaps, can be thought of as a body, a corpus, in which physically discrete lifeforms comprise a chimera that shrieks with one voice.”
The elusive message continues: “In this particular band, which is one of millions in the world today, four players selflessly merge, become musical, and emit rock ‘n’ roll that is familiar but new, warm but icy, melodic but Sphinx-like in its seductive and subtle riddles… essentially, The Hard Quartet has leveled, cultivated, and made lush an entirely new steppe in the ecosystem of guitar-bass-drums-voice agriculture.”
While news of their debut album still waits, The Hard Quartet are set to play three special shows this year in Los Angeles, New York and London. Their date in the English capital is set to take place at the Electric Ballroom in Camden on October 22nd. The four-piece are also set to extensively tour across the world in 2025, for those who can’t make the trio of shows.
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