So Women are playing tomorrow, September 25, at the Albert, and we have a feature article on them and their kick-ass new album Public Strain coming out in a couple weeks. I know, Stylus is absolutely the worst at timing things out.
But, so everyone can win, check out half of the interview today, see Women slay tomorrow, and then get their album at the show or on Tuesday (official release dates–not so passé!) Aaaannnnnnnnd pick up a copy of Stylus in a couple weeks. Hhh’okay? Hhh’okay.
Stylus: You guys have gotten love up and down of your first record. That isn’t very common. Are you prepared to keep up the same kind of momentum?
PF: I think it’s just a repeat of last time. I feel that this record is more self-indulgent. I just have a feeling that it’ll appeal to a certain kind of person or that it’ll polarize people a bit more.
Stylus: What kind of certain type of person do you think it’ll appeal to?
PF: Anyone who actually likes the entire first record is probably not going to be polarized by this one. But I just feel like this is a more refined version of what we wish we could’ve done the first time around. But I think it’s really a—you know, I’m going to stop myself there.
Stylus: Haha, that’s fine. Yeah, I do know some people who love the album, and then when they put it on their iPod, they take out the noisy tracks—I can’t remember the name right now, but I think it’s second last. [“January 8th”]
PF: Yeah, see that, this is the hilarious thing. People talk about Pitchfork and all this stuff, but no one ever talks about that last song. It’s like your uncle who’s a pedophile and no one talks about it. Yeah, we just won’t mention it and therefore it won’t exist.
Stylus: But are you guys ashamed of it?
PF: No, I love that song
Stylus: I love that song too. And I think that it’s awesome that you guys went from the pop hooks of “Black Rice” and “Group Transport Hall” to that—that’s why I love that album so much.
PF: Well in a way, those songs, those last 2 songs on the album are truer to my nature than—like, “Group Transport Hall” we wrote two days before we recorded it and it was like twice as fast as it aught to have been. We actually recorded a completely different version that’s probably ten times slower. I don’t know when we’re going to release it, but we’ve been playing it live for a long time. It kinda sounds like Wire off Chairs Missing. But yeah, those last two tracks, I feel like that’s closer to the way I wanted things to sound anyways. All that stuff was just an accident—I think this record was as well, but it’s a more accurate accident.
Taylor Burgess