“Wilder” was the first single released off northwest’s indie supergroup Slang’s debut album, Cockroach in a Ghost Town (Killl Rock Stars) set for release on May 27, 2022. The group boasts members Drew Grow, Janet Weiss, Kathy Foster, and Anita Lee Elliott, who have all been in groups Wild Flag, Sleater-Kinney, Quasi, and The Thermals. Musically, the band has images of grandeur as it meshes glam tones and healthy attitudes for its refreshing and unhindered release.

The band returns with the video for its new single “Hit The City,” and if the song seems familiar, well, it should. The song was written and recorded by former Screaming Trees singer Mark Lanegan which he sang along with PJ Harvey. Slang takes a slightly different approach here but keeps in line with Lanegan’s original version of the song. It’s gritty and the band takes on the Lanegan track to another level. Guitarist/vocalist Drew Grow explains it best:

“‘Hit the City’ first appeared on the 2004 Mark Lanagan album, Bubblegum. Singing another person’s song is not simple for me, especially one by someone of such unparalleled gravitas and poetic power as Mark Lanegan. I wanted to understand it, to give myself over to it, to find my own resonance with it. This song is devastating and looming and required weeks of effort. I really feared I couldn’t do it. But you know, late one night, singing it again in our home studio, it let me in. With Lanegan’s recent untimely passing, the tribute we recorded in 2019 hits us harder. I hope we did it justice. Thank you, Mark. RIP.”