There’s a pretty good chance that two weeks from now we’ll hate [our CD]. I kind of hate it already’ — Calgary band Women have resigned themselves to the musical garbage heap

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Women CD Release with Mt. Royal and Black Mould
Broken City
Friday, June 13 - Friday, June 13

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Broken City

Calgary band Women talk the same way they play. Brothers Pat and Matt Flegel, who play guitar and bass, respectively, don’t have much place for boundaries or conversational convention. They interrupt each other repeatedly, derailing trains of thought and going on occasionally ludicrous tangents.

Their self-titled debut, set to be released nationally on July 8 on Flemish Eye Records (though it will be made available in Calgary at a series of CD release shows this weekend), is equally unconventional — and equally exasperating. Along with guitarist Chris Reimer and Mike Wallace, the Flegels walk a heretofore-unnoticed line between ’60s jangle-pop, Sonic Youth-inspired swirls of distortion and Deerhoof-influenced hyperactivity. In other words, the band is a far cry from the scream-laden tech metal of Veritas, the foursome’s previous musical project, which disbanded in 2005.

“We just found out about so much different music,” Matt says of the difference between the two bands. “[Pat, Chris and Mike] were like 18 when we were playing in that band, and I was 21, which is still pretty young.”

Pat has a similar take. “The bands I was listening to back then that I really wanted to emulate, I hate now,” he says. “Other than the Velvet Underground, who are the only band that stayed the same. Other than that, we’re all listening to completely different music.”

It’s not just the band’s influences that have changed, though. Since Veritas’s arrival, the band members have gone from upstarts and outcasts in the metal scene to in-demand musicians in a variety of projects. Reimer and Wallace pull double duty in Women and Azeda Booth, another local act that’s been drawing attention for its genre-defying ways. Matt has played bass for local heavyweights like The Cape May (where he worked with legendary engineer Steve Albini) and with Chad VanGaalen, who produced Women’s debut. Pat joined up with Patrick Anthony in the short-lived but well-named Pressure Kill Common Style. They’ve gone from outsiders in the city’s musical world to playing a central role, but according to the Flegels, taking over the city was never the goal.

“We’re pretty happy with how the record turned out,” says Matt. “That was the main goal, putting a record out that we’re happy with now. Maybe five years from now we’ll hate it. There’s a pretty good chance that two weeks from now we’ll hate it. I kind of hate it already.”

“We just want to keep pushing to do things we’re really excited about,” says Pat. “We didn’t want to be playing shows in Calgary for fucking six years and coasting on a release for three years, playing the same songs. I’m definitely excited about this record, but I’m already thinking about the next.”

He laughs for a second before adding, “That might not be the most exciting thing for someone to read who is about to get the record. ‘Yeah, we don’t fucking care anymore, it’s pretty much in my garbage.’”

It’s not that Women don’t care, though. They’re too excited about moving on to the next show to dwell much on what they’ve done. Because they recorded the album before playing many concerts, they’re still figuring out how to capture the freewheeling sound of the disc onstage. Reimer has been experimenting with making his own effects pedals to flesh out the band’s sound. (When this is mentioned, Pat is quick to point out, “That might be a good thing to throw in there — it makes us sound cool.” Matt corrects him: “It makes him sound cool.”) The only thing they don’t seem to care about is whether their audience keeps up with their constant evolution. Pat has seemingly written off Veritas as too self-indulgently metal and genuinely wonders why others aren’t willing to do the same and join Women in the present.

“I really don’t like what we were doing in that band at all,” Pat admits. “The intentions were cool, and there was some really weird shit going on. The chords were really original. But the metal edge — some metal dudes have come to see us the past few shows, and it’s just kind of like, ‘oh, you’re not jerking off in my face? Well, that’s too bad.’”

“There is enough of that going on, too,” Matt points out.

“We are jerking off.”

“There’s semen flying everywhere.”