Last week, Pavement and Jicks leader Stephen Malkmus teased the formation of a supergroup with fellow indie rockers Matt Sweeney, Jim White, and Emmett Kelly. Now, they’ve made it official by revealing the band’s name: The Hard Quartet.
The announcement comes after each member of the group posted not-so-cryptic messages on their Instagram stories last week. “A hard band is good to find,” wrote Sweeney over a photo of four men strolling across a crosswalk.
Another story featured a list of what turned out to be scrapped monikers, including “Rubix and the Cubes,” “The Hi-Octanes,” and “Divorce Doulas.” That caption read, “A hard name is good to find.” It seems like they made the right choice.
There’s no word on when new music is dropping, but stay tuned to find out.
The group’s members have already collaborated in various combinations. Sweeney, a former member of Chavez and Zwan, contributed electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and vocals to Malkmus’ 2020 solo album, Traditional Techniques. Meanwhile, Kelly and White are part of a duo called The Double.
Speaking of White, the drummer is adding to an already prolific 2024. In addition to his debut solo album, All Hits: Memories, the musician has released full-lengths with the Dirty Three and another supergroup, Beings.
Malkmus will be working around Pavement’s upcoming festival appearances at Bumbershoot and Riot Fest. Get tickets here.
