Through the years, Weiss has played with everyone from her bands Quasi, Wild Flag, and Sleater-Kinney, to collaborators like Elliott Smith, Stephen Malkmus, and others.; Grow has fronted his own groups Modern Kin and the Pastors’ Wives, producing other bands along the way. Starting as a moonlighting collaboration, the meeting of this particular group was kismet if not totally cosmic.
Slang, the Portland band that includes Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney, Quasi), Drew Grow (Modern Kin, Pastors’ Wives), Kathy Foster (The Thermals), and Anita Lee Elliot (Viva Voce), started in the mid-2010s, but between Janet getting in a car accident and the pandemic, they’ve were a little slow out of the gate. With Janet more of a free agent these days, and the last two years giving everyone a little more free time, Slang are finally here with their debut album.
For those imagining some sort of true PDX supergroup, combining elements of the many notable bands involved, you might be disappointed but on its own terms “Cockroach in a Ghost Town” is a very solid record. Drew Grow is the primary creative force here: he sings lead and wrote all the songs (or co-wrote with Weiss) and he’s got an emotive, anthemic style that’s closer to Arcade Fire than Sleater-Kinney or The Thermals.
He knows his way around big choruses, not to mention memorable verses and middle-eighths, and has the fiery vocal chords with which to deliver them. Having such a killer band — including one of the best drummers on the planet — all just makes it kick a little more ass.
Rock-n-roll group hailing from Portland, Oregon.
Band is: Drew Grow, Janet Weiss, Kathy Foster, Anita Lee Elliott
Debut album,
“Cockroach in a Ghost Town” out now on Kill Rock Stars.
The Fat Angel Sings 