The Hard Quartet – The Hard Quartet

The Hard Quartet_front Indie rock royalty…, assemble!! Supergroup The Hard Quartet’s debut offers jams you didn’t know you needed.

The concept of a band, meaning a stable, cohesive unit of musicians working together under a name, is no longer the golden standard in the music industry. Many solo artists successfully masquerade as bands nowadays. Although some of these enterprises actually do sound good, we as the MTV generation cling to the past and need a scapegoat to make sense of it all. So who is to blame? Technology? Gig economy? Spotify? The age of individualism? Eh… while chewing on this question Stephen Malkmus (Pavement), Matt Sweeney (Skunk), Emmett Kelly (The Cairo Gang) and Jim White (Dirty Three and numerous other endeavors) decided to undermine our musings by unexpectedly forming up a new supergroup called The Hard Quartet. If the concept of “a band” is on life support nowadays, “supergroups” should already be extinct for a long time now. Malkmus and friends however don’t care so here we are. A new supergroup has entered the building. Of course, with all these veterans there is enough reason to be excited about The Hard Quartet. Still, we also have to be skeptical because this collab could also be an old fashioned, ego-heavy, cash grab from a bunch of freelancers that lack commitment and true creativity. There’s only one way to find out what sort of beast we are dealing with here, so let’s drop the needle.

From its very first note, The Hard Quartet makes a statement to “go hard.” Opener Chrome Mess doesn’t ease the listener in and is full of garage-rock riffs that are traded out between Malkmus and Sweeney. Chaos and cohesion continue on Earth Hater, an almost arrogant nod to early ’70s psych rock caught up in Malkmus’ witty, abstract lyricism. Lines like “Better be the seventh Bardo, I do not know. The archetype of the narc is eternal” don’t make direct sense but land in the same ironic manner we know from Pavement.

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Mind that The Hard Quartet is not Pavement 2.0 made for grumpy Gen X’ers like us. The members all build on their and each other’s storied pasts to also break new ground. On the 15-track album, clocking in at just under an hour, we are treated to sprawls across genres and moods, pulling from garage rock, country, psych-folk, and even a sniff of blues. The whole album feels like an unmade bed which is proof that Malkmus, Sweeney, Kelly and White did have a lot of fun while recording this. The soulful blues of Heel Highway, the jagged rhythms and punky guitars of Renegade and all that lies in between is heard on this collab.

The Hard Quartet also shines bright on its quieter, more reflective passages. On warm folk-rock tracks like Rio’s Song, Six Deaf Rats and closer Gripping the Riptide Jim White’s expressive drumming is heard best. These moments allow space for the band’s chemistry to truly breathe. White’s percussion serves as an undercurrent and shapes a subtle kind of mood. Meanwhile, Kelly takes over the vocal duties from Malkmus every now and then. On Our Hometown Boy, a ballad that reminds of The Byrds, his fragile voice takes center stage. In the end however Malkmus is the group’s frontman and as already noted his lyrical fingerprints are all over this record. On Hey, arguably the album’s crown jewel, he delivers a melancholic reflection with a direct link to his Pavement days.

Of course, the album isn’t without its flaws. At 15 tracks, the group occasionally overplays their hand, with some songs on the second half feeling more like sketches rather than fully realized compositions. If that fat was trimmed down to perhaps down to 10 or 12 tracks the album would be more coherent. Let not forget that the looseness and occasional racket are also part of the charm. The group intertwines rock’s ruggedness, folk’s warmth and adds a bit of improv to keep you on your toes. This is a record made by friends who clearly love playing together and that joy is infectious.

Ultimately, The Hard Quartet succeeds because it doesn’t try to be a grand statement or a reinvention. These four seasoned musicians go beyond nostalgia and celebrate endurance, creativity, and the simple joy of making music with friends. And in a world that often feels increasingly disposable, that’s something worth holding onto.