REM, Nirvana and Sleater-Kinney members join forces for supergroup

Members of REM, Nirvana and Sleater-Kinney appear to have joined forces for a new supergroup. After making their live debut last week, the rock’n’roll luminaries are reportedly working together at a studio in Portland, Oregon, under the name Super-Earth. Although Super-Earth have yet to announce an official lineup, the tentative cast was unveiled via Twitter in a black-and-white studio shot by film-maker/photographer Lance Bangs. Sleater-Kinney’s Corin Tucker (who is married to Bangs), REM co-founder Peter Buck, Fastbacks guitarist Kurt Bloch, King Crimson confederate Bill Rieflin, Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselić and Minus Five bandleader Scott McCaughey. Bloch was absent in another photo of the new band.

Super-Earth played their first concert on 30 April at the Secret Society lounge, in Portland. The group hammered through 12 songs, described by the Oregonian as “speedy and loud … less punk-rock than power-pop, but always knife-sharp”. Tickets cost $5. Novoselić was missing from that show.

Despite instant enthusiasm for Super-Earth, this project also seems to quash hopes for a reunion tour by REM, Sleater-Kinney or Nirvana. While Michael Stipe has shown little interest in reuniting REM, who split three years ago, there have also been rumours of a Sleater-Kinney comeback after the trio performed at a concert in December.

More recently, Novoselić and Dave Grohl played Nirvana songs with a variety of female singers, including Joan Jett, Lorde and Kim Gordon. Though Grohl told Rolling Stone that “it may never happen again”, Novoselić opened the door to a possible series of shows. “I sure won’t say no … There’s Foo Fighters and Dave has some other projects going on. And I have some commitments … [but] maybe we can even do some new music one day.”

Source: The Guardian