But the Hard Quartet dip their four sets of lips into those waters and drink deep.
In this corner:Stephen Malkmus, fromPavementand the Jicks.
In that one:Matt Sweeney, from Chavez and Superwolf.
Atiba Jefferson*
Theyre joined by Dirty Three drum legend Jim White and Ty Segall bassist Emmett Kelly.
Malkmus and Sweeney are two of the hardest-working and least predictable artists to emerge from the Nineties guitar-band explosion.
Theyve been in more supergroups than actual groups.
Sweeney adds Rios Song, with its Chavez-like harmonies and cryptic riddles.
(For how long and how high do we ride/While we wait for the shade to reply?)
The songs get looser, longer, shaggier.
Jacked Existence is a fantastic acoustic dirge in the dank mode ofTraditional Techniques.
Nobody ever knows what to predict from him, Sweeney, or any of these four musicians.
But the Hard Quartet is a tribute to the sweetly dazed inspiration they share.
