WORDS Michael Lanigan
If critics had not panned Weezer’s Pinkerton back in 1996, their follow-up efforts would likely have sounded more like Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks’ latest release, Wig Out At Jagbags and less like that nauseating excuse for a third album. That is not to say that Stephen Malkmus has mellowed to sell records, far from it in fact. Really, it means that his post-Pavement outfit, on their sixth LP have bridged the gap between the pop punk sensibilities of early-Weezer and the volatile, unmarketable sound of Captain Beefheart.
The record opens with Planetary Motion which, one minute and four genres into pressing play, is indicative of how broad and eclectic Malkmus’ influences are at present. My initial fear of listening to a forty-minute identity crisis vanished immediately, replaced with the thrilling prospect of a new and subtly diverse adventure into one of alternative music’s most intriguing and underrated songwriters. Without losing any of the attributes that make a Malkmus LP worth a spin, Wig Out travels beyond the comforts of indie rock, toying with grunge, soul, reggae, country music and brass packed codas, often with impressive results. Who says four piece guitar bands have to be dull?
Clearly taking influence from Can and Amon Duul II, it should come as no surprise to hear that Malkmus has championed German culture as an inspiration for writing this album. His wild leaps between simple melodies and intense psychedelic explosions on tracks such as Cinnamon and Lesbians bear all the hallmarks of 1960’s krautrock. However, to the bands credit, they do not mimic the sprawling jam sessions of these cult groups; instead boiling them down to far more effective three-minute songs, exemplified by J Smoov’s dreamy outro.
Too often, we fear that musicians who begin with career-defining albums turn stale after two decades of relying on one beloved formula. Thankfully, this is not the case with Malkmus, who still proves that his idiosyncrasies remain untarnished on tracks such as Houston Hades and Scategories. While there are some shaky moments, notably Rumble At The Rainbo, at least they appear to come from ill-advised experiments, rather than laziness.
This represents an interesting stage in Malkmus’ career which, as opposed to being his classic loose pop chaos, is actually a more refined and rehearsed collection of songs. Unlike earlier Jicks albums, such as Real Emotional Trash, when Wig Out shifts into messy territories, it comes as carefully crafted dysfunction, rather than serendipitous moments. Much like late-Sonic Youth, he has mastered crowd-pleasing noisy moments, while still acknowledging that distortion alone cannot be artistically validating without harmonious contrasts. By challenging his own methods, here sits a fresh statement from a weird, but undeniably gifted musician.
