Oregon Public Broadcasting

Monday night, one of Portland's hottest musical properties kicks off an international tour. Wild Flag is a quartet of rock true believers whose sound flowered from years of playing on the vanguard of music.

Ifanyi Bell / OPB

The four women in Wild Flag are more than a little ambivalent about the "supergroup" branding so often used to describe them. Drummer Janet Weiss considers the other bands that have been branded that way.

"Asia and Power Station. Damn Yankees. It has really caught on. All the press mention that-our friends don't say that to us!"

It's not the perfect name for what Wild Flag does, but it's hard to explain their collective chops any other way. Weiss and guitarist Carrie Brownstein spent ten years writing indie rock history in the band Sleater-Kinney. Rebecca Cole made sunny, vibrant pop with the Minders. And Mary Timony - the only Wild Flag member who doesn't live in Portland - staked out a place in the firmament fronting the critically-acclaimed Boston band, Helium.

Janet Weiss tells OPB Music when the band first started playing together, they were aiming for something more than uniting their collective fan base: something "greater than the sum of the parts. There's this idea about a composite band where you cobble together people from disparate groups and think that's going to work. We did not take for granted it ever would."

Weiss says they didn't even start to think about a record or a tour until they had songs and were sure the lineup worked.

Ifanyi Bell / OPB

Timony lives in Washington DC, so the band needed time to write and practice. The self-titled record that came together is an exuberant romp through the post-punk tradition, with shimmering girl group harmonies and sometimes a dash of beach blanket bounce.

Keyboard player Rebecca Cole says there wasn't a lot of calculation in the production. "I don't know that we were trying to expand anyone's palate - just include the stuff that we like."

The easy flow of their chemistry has made for a fun work experience. But Weiss says there's no firm plan for what's next beyond the tour.

"Obviously we want to make another record and have the songwriting be good. But we can't get ahead of ourselves. There's Kansas City in Between. And Milwaukee and Omaha and ..."

All the band’s members have other commitments, including Janet Weiss’ long-lived band Quasi, and Brownstein’s stint on the IFC series, Portlandia.

Wild Flag plays its first date Monday in Minneapolis. They'll swing back through town in November for a couple of dates in Portland.

(Special thanks to OPB Music for use of the Wild Flag interview. Watch for the full edit up at opbmusic.org in about two weeks.)