Wig Out at Jagbags

     You would probably assume that someone who has written four posts on Pavement would have bought the entire Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks catalog. Well, you would be making an ass of "u" and me, because I hadn't. Sometimes I'm negligent at getting around to the solo careers of guys who used to be in iconic bands. I didn't have any Malkmus. I don't have any Frank Black. I don't have any Thom Yorke or Paul Westerberg or Lou Reed or Phil Collins. I don't even have any of the KISS solo albums. Having said that, I'm jazzed about the Jimi Goodwin (Doves) album that's coming out next week. Anyhow, I hadn't bought a Jicks album until Wig Out at Jagbags. And truthfully, I only picked it up because I was going to see them live and wanted to be familiar with the new material. Before I discuss Wig Out, let me just say it's the best album I've heard, so far, this year and their show was possibly the best I've ever seen. They were loose and seemed to be having fun. Their playing was tight and they closed the show with a cover of the 70's hit Brandy (You're A Fine Girl), which was fantastic.
     I grew up listening to the radio in the 70's and apparently Malkmus did as well (he's only a couple years younger than me). Wig Out definitely has a 70's vibe. I hear The Grateful Dead (Cinnamon and Lesbians), The Mothers of Invention (Planetary Motion), Wings (Chartjunk) and even Bacharach and David (J Smoov). He even name checks The Dead on "Lariat". Just as a side note, this will be the only time The Grateful Dead will ever be mentioned on this blog. "Lariat" has one of my favorite lines "I wouldn't jerry rig or candy coat your Latin kisses" and he manages to rhyme Tennyson with venison. I am confused, though, when he sings about growing up listening to the music of the best decade ever and he seems to say it's the 80's.
     My favorite track is "Chartjunk", which reminds me of "Magneto and Titanium Man" by Paul McCartney and Wings. It has that same kind of rock shuffle structure and guitar sound. There are some classic Malkmus lyrics like:

In one ear and out of the other
If you feel the urge to share
Think again cuz you're not my mother
Actually I'm not contractually obliged to care

If you flood the lane on me brother
Watch out for my step back three
I put the "I" in team like no other
Actually I'm not contractually obliged to share

     If you're a Pavement fan, don't despair. There are a few Pavement-y tracks like "The Janitor Revealed", "Houston Hades", "Shibboleth" and "Scattegories". There's also a track, "Rumble at the Rainbo", that sounds like Weezer. My interpretation is that it's a dig at Rivers Cuomo. If you recall from my Weezer post, I hate their music after the Green Album because it's Rivers whining about getting old. "Rumble at the Rainbo" is also about getting older, but it's much more clever and well written than a song like, say, "Pork and Beans".
     My friend, Mike, loaned me the rest of The Jicks CD's, so I will be playing catch up with their catalog. I've really come a long way with Stephen Malkmus. I used to dismiss him as a smart ass hipster who thought he was cooler than thou. Now he's one of my favorite songwriters and performers. He's a reminder to me to try and keep an open mind despite my curmudgeonly nature. Peace.