While also a veritable who’s who of talented indie rock musicians, at its core the Hard Quartet is a group of guys who simply enjoy each other’s company.
“The band is really like a fun thing, you know? We’re buddies,” said singer and multi-instrumentalist Emmett Kelly on a recent call from his Los Angeles home. “It feels really good to get together and play.”
Kelly and his bandmates — drummer Jim White and singers-guitarists Matt Sweeney and Stephen Malkmus — make their Atlanta debut with a Saturday, March 22, show at Variety Playhouse behind their self-titled debut album (released by Matador last October) and new single “Lies (Something You Can Do).”
The record is chock-full of the stellar songwriting and tasteful playing you would expect from a group with the collective experience of this particular quartet. Kelly helmed the Cairo Gang and also records and performs with Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Ty Segall. Malkmus is a member of the legendary (but on hiatus) Pavement, and has also helmed his own band the Jicks. White drummed for Dirty Three and, like Kelly, plays with Bonnie “Prince” Billy. Last but certainly not least, Sweeney fronted Chavez, produces other artists and hosts the online show “Guitar Moves,” for which he conducted a memorable interview with Keith Richards, one of his heroes. White and Sweeney have a mutual Atlanta connection, too: Both have collaborated with the city’s own Chan Marshall (Cat Power).
Credit: (Courtesy of Malcolm Donaldson)
Credit: (Courtesy of Malcolm Donaldson)
Recorded in semi-secrecy (the new supergroup did not want fans of individual members to know until they were ready), the Hard Quartet’s debut features 15 songs that find Kelly, Sweeney and Malkmus taking turns singing and also switching up guitar and bass duties. A highlight is Kelly’s Byrds-esque “Our Hometown Boy,” a jangly and insanely catchy tune augmented by Sweeney harmonizing with Kelly and also playing a crisp guitar solo.
“This song was an old demo that I had from some random point in time. I’d never put words to it,” Kelly said. “Matt came up with a bridge, and then I wrote the words, and it all kind of worked out, and it was cool.”
Like a number of other Hard Quartet songs, “Our Hometown Boy” clocks in at under three minutes, leaving the listener wanting more. The collaboration behind its creation thrills Kelly. “I like the idea of us being able to work on stuff together, you know what I mean? Aside from just playing together, but compositionally,” he added. “It’s fun for me to get outside of my head.”
Sweeney’s soulful “Rio’s Song,” named for a late friend, glides along to White’s loosey-goosey drumming. If its video looks familiar, watch the clip for “Waiting on a Friend,” the 1981 Rolling Stones single, to see just how closely and hilariously the Hard Quartet re-created its New York scenes. In contrast to the many short songs, the nearly seven minute “Six Deaf Rats” prowls along, with Malkmus practically talking alongside White’s marching band snare drum sound.
Lyrical and sonic references to other artists abound. The sludgy opener “Chrome Mess” refers to a “Sister Sludge” (nodding to soul group Sister Sledge), while “Thug Dynasty” includes the line, “the last train to Darksville has already left the station,” the town just a letter off from the one in the 1966 chart-topping debut single by the Monkees. And the woozy “Hey” features a Mellotron part that clearly recalls the influential shoegaze album “Loveless” by My Bloody Valentine.
“Lies (Something You Can Do)” was released in the first week of March, timed perfectly with the band’s inaugural North American tour. “We had gotten together at the end of last summer to start to write some new stuff,” Kelly acknowledged about the song’s post-album genesis. “If we were to have a goal, it was: Oh, if we could release something when we start touring, then that would be cool.” The band recorded the basic track at that session. “We started it last summer in New York and then I brought it home and finished it,” added the multi-instrumentalist.
The Hard Quartet played its first shows last fall in New York, Los Angeles and London, and all of Australia’s big cities in January, so it is anxious to take on a full tour. Noting that touring Australia means flying to each concert city, Kelly emphasized that playing across North America will help them work on their set. Taking planes from one gig to another is “a little bit different than a normal tour where you’re playing every night and you’re in a van,” he said. “Once we get out doing that, I think that will definitely change the vibe.”
No matter which songs they include in their set, though, band members relish playing them as they see fit each night. “I get the suspicion that lots of people come up with their part, and they make a recording, and that’s the crystallized version of what their great vision was. We don’t really have that,” Kelly said and laughed. “It’s magic what happens in a moment you give air to. I definitely like to redo my melodic approach every time.”
Kelly loves playing in Atlanta, having made a number of connections through a friend who books shows locally. “It has a warm kind of homey vibe to it,” he said. “Atlanta’s just a good place, I think.”
As you would anticipate from musicians open in their admiration for each other and in their expression of how much fun they are having, the Hard Quartet already has designs on a second album. Touring takes them across North America and then the U.K. and European Union through June, leaving the second half of 2025 open to the possibility of writing more songs.
“The plan is to just find more time to get together and play,” Kelly said. “I’m hoping we get together for a good stretch to work on a new album, yeah.”
Band members and fans alike stand to gain from more music from the Hard Quartet.
CONCERT PREVIEW
The Hard Quartet with special guests Sharp Pins
Saturday, March 22, at Variety Playhouse. Doors at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m. (all ages). $42-$75. 1099 Euclid Ave. NE, Atlanta. variety-playhouse.com.
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