Kevin Morby and Carrie Brownstein perform Sleater-Kinney's 'Modern Girl' in Portland

A hometown surprise

Carrie Brownstein joined Kevin Morby onstage during his Portland show to perform Sleater-Kinney's "Modern Girl," a fan favorite from 2005. According to Pitchfork, the collaboration played out in Portland, which is, naturally, as fitting a city as any for a Sleater-Kinney moment.

Why it matters

Brownstein co-founded Sleater-Kinney in the mid-nineties, and the band recorded "Modern Girl" for their 2005 album The Woods. Her appearance at a Kevin Morby set is the kind of low-key, no-announcement guest spot that tends to travel fast online, and for good reason. Morby has long shown an affinity for classic American rock and its adjacent canon, so the pairing feels less like a stunt and more like a natural overlap of two careers that share certain instincts.

No word yet on whether the moment will feed into anything larger from either camp, but as a standalone night-of surprise, it lands well.