Women was a Canadian

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an art ...

band formed in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

in 2008. The group consisted of Patrick Flegel, Christopher Reimer, Matt Flegel and Mike Wallace. Their debut album ''

Women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...

'' was released on

Chad VanGaalen Chad VanGaalen (born 1977) is a Canadian musician and artist from Calgary, Alberta. Career ''Infiniheart'' Following a few scattered independent releases, done mostly on homemade CDs with hand-drawn art, VanGaalen released ''Infiniheart'' (2004 ...

's label

Flemish Eye The eye splice is a method of creating a permanent loop (an " eye") in the end of a rope by means of rope splicing. The Flemish eye is a type of circular loop at the end of a thread. There are several techniques of creating the eye with its k ...

on July 8, 2008 in Canada and on

Jagjaguwar Jagjaguwar is an American independent record label based in Bloomington, Indiana, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin. Jagjaguwar is a label included in Secretly Group, which also includes ...

in the United States on October 7, 2008. It was rumoured that the band broke up on October 29, 2010, after a fight on stage at a show at the Lucky Bar in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

although their management stated that they had merely cancelled the rest of their tour.

History

Women's debut album, ''

'', recorded by

, gained positive recognition from music publications including

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

Vue Weekly ''Vue Weekly'' was an alternative weekly newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, with issues released every Thursday. It covered topics on artists and events that are often ignored, marginalized, or misrepresented by the mainstream med ...

, and as well as other varied music blogs. The band's sound has been likened to "sunny Beach Boys pop ..dragged into a dark alley and gleefully mutilated", as well as compared to other bands

The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise w ...

and

The Zombies The Zombies are an English rock band formed in the early 1960s in St Albans and led by keyboardist and vocalist Rod Argent and vocalist Colin Blunstone. The group had a British and American hit in 1964 with "She's Not There". In the US, two fu ...

. Pitchfork Media named their song "Black Rice" from their debut album the 18th best track of 2008. After the release of their debut album Women extensively toured throughout 2008 and 2009, performing over 180 times in North America, Europe and the UK. Highlight performances took place at Barcelona's

Primavera Sound Primavera Sound (commonly referred to as simply Primavera) is an annual music festival held in Parc del Fòrum in Barcelona, Spain that takes place between the end of May and beginning of June. The first edition took place in 2001 in Poble Espany ...

, Austin's

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

, Chicago's

Pitchfork Music Festival The Pitchfork Music Festival is an annual summer music festival organized by ''Pitchfork Media'' and held in Union Park in Chicago, Illinois. Starting in 2011, the festival announced a branch staged in Paris at Grande halle de la Villette. The fe ...

and London's The Lexington. The band has toured or performed with

Mogwai Mogwai () are a Scottish post-rock band, formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar), and Martin Bulloch (drums). Mogw ...

Abe Vigoda Abraham Charles Vigoda (February 24, 1921 – January 26, 2016) was an American actor known for his portrayals of Salvatore Tessio in ''The Godfather'' (1972) and Phil Fish in both ''Barney Miller'' (1975–1977, 1982) and ''Fish'' (1977–1978 ...

Dungen Dungen ("the grove", ) is a Swedish rock band based in Stockholm. Often classified as psychedelic rock, Dungen is also influenced by Swedish (and other) folk music, classic rock, progressive rock, garage rock and alternative rock. The band ...

Deerhunter Deerhunter is an American indie rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 2001. The band currently consists of Bradford Cox (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Moses Archuleta (drums, electronics, sound treatments), Lotus Plaza, Lockett Pundt (guitar, ...

, and

Eric's Trip Eric's Trip is a Canadian indie rock band from Moncton, New Brunswick. Eric's Trip achieved prominence as the first Canadian band to be signed to Seattle's flagship grunge label Sub Pop in the early 1990s. The band had a minor hit in alternative ...

. The song "Black Rice" was also listed by Pitchfork as the 410th best song of the 2000s. Women's second album, ''

Public Strain ''Public Strain'' is the second and final studio album by Canadian rock music, rock band Women (band), Women. It was released on August 23, 2010, via Flemish Eye in Canada and Jagjaguwar in the United States. The album was produced by Chad VanGaa ...

'', was released in Canada, via

, and in the United States, UK, and Europe, via

, on September 28, 2010. The album received praise from across the media spectrum, including ''Pitchfork'', ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'', ''Filter'', and the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

. ''Public Strain'' also topped the !earshot Top 50 Chart in October that year. The band began a European tour, followed by a US tour in the fall of 2010. It was rumoured that the band broke up on October 29, 2010 after a fight on stage at a show at the Lucky Bar in

although their management stated that they merely cancelled the rest of their tour. Matt Flegel later confirmed in an interview with Marc Riley on BBC 6 that a fight had in fact broken out on stage between Patrick and the band, prematurely ending their tour. Pitchfork released a three-song live video in February 2011 shot in an empty factory a few weeks before the band's indefinite hiatus. Some members of Women also played in the live band of

. Pat Flegel was a member of the band Fels-Naptha, and Michael Wallace is a former member of the bands Friendo and Azeda Booth, and toured with Porcelain Raft. Christopher Reimer toured with

The Dodos The Dodos are an American indie rock band consisting of Meric Long and Logan Kroeber. History The Dodos began playing music together in 2005, when musician Meric Long, who had been gigging steadily in San Francisco as a solo singer-songwriter, ...

during the summer and fall of 2011. On February 8, 2012, guitarist Christopher Reimer performed at Weeds Cafe in Calgary, recorded by Brad Hawkins. Thirteen days later, on February 21, Reimer died in his sleep. In 2012 Chad van Gaalen released
The Chad Tape
', containing 9 Reimer solo tracks. Following the dissolution of the band and Reimer's death, Matthew Flegel and Michael Wallace formed the band

Preoccupations Preoccupations is a Canadian post-punk band from Calgary, Alberta, formed in 2012 under the name Viet Cong. The band consists of Matt Flegel (vocals, bass), Scott Munro (guitar, synth), Daniel Christiansen (guitar) and Mike Wallace (drums). Fle ...

(formerly Viet Cong) in 2012, while Pat Flegel formed Cindy Lee.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (

, 2008) * ''

'' (

, 2010)

Extended play

* ''Rarities 2007-2010'' (Flemish Eye / Jagjaguwar, 2020)

Singles

* "Service Animal/Grey Skies" 7" (Jagjaguwar, 2010) * "Women / Cold Pumas / Fair Ohs / Friendo Split 7"" (Faux Discx, 2011)

Video

* ''Pitchfork Presents: A Three Song Live Special'' (Feb 2011)

Chris Reimer

* ''The Chad Tape'' (

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

, 2012)

Members

;Former :*Patrick Flegel – guitar, vocals (2007-2012) :*Matthew Flegel – bass, percussion, vocals (2007-2012) :*Michael Wallace – drums (2007-2012) :*Christopher Reimer – guitar, samples, vocals (2007-2012; deceased)

References

External links

Women
at

{{Authority control Musical groups established in 2007 Musical groups from Calgary Canadian indie rock groups Canadian noise rock groups Canadian art rock groups Musical groups disestablished in 2012 2007 establishments in Alberta 2012 disestablishments in Alberta Jagjaguwar artists