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Last month, Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus introduced a new band with Chavez’s Matt Sweeney, Dirty Three’s Jim White, and the Cairo Gang’s Emmett Kelly called the Hard Quartet. Following their first single, “Earth Hater,” today the group has shared a second, “Rio’s Song,” which comes with a video filled with Easter eggs for Rolling Stones fans. It is, in short, a shot-for-shot remake of the band’s 1981 video for “Waiting on a Friend,” starting with a shot of the building where Sweeney once lived, the facade of which happens to be the cover of Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti. The new song was written in honor of the late actor Rio Hackford, and the video includes cameos from Pavement’s Mark Ibold, Chavez’s James Lo, and others. Watch it all unfold below.
In a statement to Pitchfork, the video’s director, Jared Sherbert, said, “Both Matt and Stephen individually write music that has soundtracked pivotal periods in my life, so working with them on this video for their new band was a dream.” Sweeney came up with the idea to recreate the “Waiting on a Friend” video, which was shot entirely in their neighborhood, the East Village, near Tompkins Square Park. “How,” Sherbert wondered, “could I create the same feeling of ’80s broadcast television” 43 years after the original?
With the help of a friend who happened to have caught the original filming, they pieced together that the Rolling Stones had shot the video on Sweeney’s birthday, July 2, which helped them plan a seasonably appropriate shooting schedule. “We were able to use similar locations,” Sherbert added. “The original staircase is now surrounded by businesses, so we shot at the nearly identical staircase next door. The St. Marks Bar & Grill is gone, and, although there was another bar in the neighborhood with almost the exact same layout, International Bar was incredibly accommodating and encouraged us to shoot there, which just felt right for this. The apartment window with the guy daydreaming has changed, but a neighbor a few doors down let us use hers. It’s a DIY neighborhood production, and it wouldn’t have been possible without our friends and neighbors who came together and took time out of their day to help make it happen.” Check out behind-the-scenes photos from the shoot below.
“Rio’s Song” and “Earth Hater” will appear on the Hard Quartet’s self-titled debut album. The new release arrives on October 4 via Matador. See the tracklist below. Head here to see the group’s October tour dates.
The Hard Quartet:
01 Chrome Mess
02 Earth Hater
03 Rio’s Song
04 Our Hometown Boy
05 Renegade
06 Heel Highway
07 Killed By Death
08 Hey
09 It Suits You
10 Six Deaf Rats
11 Action for Military Boys
12 Jacked Existence
13 North of the Border
14 Thug Dynasty
15 Gripping the Riptide
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