Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks: Wig Out at Jagbags (Domino/Universal)

 |   |  <1 min read

Stephen Malkmus/Jicks: Rumble at the Rainbo
Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks: Wig Out at Jagbags (Domino/Universal)

After fuzzed-out psychedelics with the Jicks along the lines of Neil Young/Television, former Pavement-man Malkmus reconnected with the programme in 2011 with his Mirror Traffic album (produced by Beck).

And this one – with references to his indie.rock past, sometimes poking fun at it as on the one-listen comedic Rumble at the Rainbo about band reunions – continues in a similarly enjoyable manner.

He channels a little of the mid-60s Who as much as the alt.rock of the 90s, throws that wobbly voice up front on cracked ballads (the dark but Reed-like witty Houston Hades), let's everything breath on the lowkey and unexpectedly cruisey J Smoov (with typically tart lyrics and woozy sub-Bacharach horns alongside strings), offers brittle and ragged radio powerpop-rock (Chartjunk) and something as slippery as the shape-shifting five minute-plus Surreal Teenagers.

But there are also lesser tracks – Shibboleth which doubtless comes up better live, the slight'n'nice enough Independence Street – although not many could write, let alone get away with, a stoner pop song entitled Cinnamon and Lesbians.

Not an essential, but certainly an enjoyable, Malkmus album.

Nice he's having fun too.

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   Music at Elsewhere articles index

THE BEATLES: GET BACK, THE ROOFTOP PERFORMANCE (2022): Reeling in the years

THE BEATLES: GET BACK, THE ROOFTOP PERFORMANCE (2022): Reeling in the years

Most serious Beatle-people will already have a bootleg copy of the Beatles' final live performance on the top of their Apple building in London on January 30, 1969. But its... > Read more

Skyscraper Stan: Golden Boy Vol I and Vol II (digital outlets)

Skyscraper Stan: Golden Boy Vol I and Vol II (digital outlets)

Yes, Stan Woodhouse does literally stand tall, but he also has a towering musical presence on this second album after Last Year's Tune about four years ago. He's a troubadour who explores... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

Janet Jackson: Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989)

Janet Jackson: Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989)

In February 2019, Janet Jackson – alongside Stevie Nicks as a solo artist, Radiohead, the Cure, Roxy Music, Def Leppard and the Zombies – will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of... > Read more

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Ray Woolf

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Ray Woolf

Ray Woolf has had a long and diverse career in New Zealand show business, half a century of it in fact from the time he was a young rock'n'roller, a regular on Sixties television shows such as... > Read more