Stephen Malkmus
Stephen Malkmus
[Matador]
Rating: 7.7
I'm not the first to imagine a parallel-universe version of Being John
Malkovich entitled Being Stephen Malkmus-- that credit goes to
weblogger Adam Kempa, although he neglected to take the concept to its
logical extreme and consider
the ramifications of Malkmus going through his own portal. Of course, one
would expect there'd be a lot of "Malkmus Malkmus Malkmus. Malkmus? Malkmus,
Malkmus!"-type carrying on, but the punchline would have to be that he'd
actually enjoy the experience, so much so that he'd abandon Pavement and the
rest of the outside world to stay in there, maybe form a band with other
himselves, and record an album called, oh, I don't know, Stephen
Malkmus.
I won't presume to be able to gauge how much influence Malkmus' new bandmates
(Portland gadabouts Joanna Bolme and John Moen) had on this, his eponymous
solo debut; anyway, it's his name and mug plastered on the album's cover, so
he's going to get the majority of praise and blame. There are two immediately
apparent differences between Stephen Malkmus and Pavement's catalog:
first and least surprisingly, there's less of a group dynamic here than on
Pavement albums. It definitely has the sonic hallmarks of a "solo" album-- the
songs are less jammy and spontaneous, more rigidly structured. Second, it's a
lot more fun-sounding than Pavement was near the end of its shelf life. Let's
face it, Pavement hadn't really sounded "fun" since Wowee Zowee--
Brighten The Corners and Terror Twilight had occasional moments
of playfulness, but on the whole they were considerably more sober, bordering
on ponderous.
As Malkmus has noted in interviews, this increasing lack of fun was one
important factor in Pavement's dissolution; now having escaped from the
handcuffs of "band"-dom, the solo Malkmus is savoring his freedom, the spring
back in his step. Of course, he's not indulging in that freedom to the extent
that he would confound all expectations and, say, record an album of Swedish
reggae; Stephen Malkmus is Stephen Malkmus as Stephen Malkmus, splitting
time (as always) between smirky loopiness and wistful melancholy. The whimsy
factor may have been turned way up, but Malkmus spends his time on the album
learning how to focus that whimsy towards specific ends, not just for its own
sake.
If Pavement fans were grinding their teeth over the prospect of Stephen
Malkmus being a flop, the first single, "Discretion Grove," didn't help
matters much. It's about as MOR a song as he's ever written (with the exception
of, perhaps, "Major Leagues"), chugging along mindlessly when it should be
building toward a more satisfying climax. Also in the less-than-desirable
category is "Jo Jo's Jacket," a prime example of Malkmus at his least
appealing. In what is ostensibly a song about Yul Brynner, he doesn't do much
beyond tack a sample of a Brynner interview at the beginning and namecheck
Westworld, abandoning the subject matter entirely by the second verse
and freestyling his way to the end. Let's be clear about something: songs about
nothing in particular are fine if done right, as are songs about specific
subjects, but switching between the two formats doesn't speak well of properly
realized intentions.
But Malkmus doesn't let his whimsy get the better of him anywhere else on the
album; "Phantasies" is so unremittingly goony with its annoying samples,
rubbery guitar and gratuitous falsettos that I can't help but love it.
Likewise, "Troubbble"'s farting keyboards and guitar spasms make it a quick
spurt of inspired head-bobbery. But ever since "Zurich is Stained" and
"Here," I've always preferred Malkmus' achier, laid-back songs, of which
this album has an abundance: "Church on White" is a lush, tender tribute to
a deceased friend, and "Deado" and "Trojan Curfew" balance sublime, shimmery
beauty with gentle humor.
Malkmus' biggest departure from his work with Pavement, however, lies in "The
Hook" and "Jennifer and the Ess-Dog," where he puts his gift for non-sequitur
detail in the employ of an actual storyline. I've heard some people describe
"The Hook" as Malkmus' "Lou Reed" song, which seems sort of appropriate given
his speak-sing delivery and deceptively simple, classic-sounding guitar solo.
Naturally, it's a song about pirates, and an unromantic one at that: "We had
no wooden legs or steel hooks/ We had no black eyepatches or a starving cook/
We were just killers with the cold eyes of a sailor." "Jennifer and the
Ess-Dog" unrolls a relationship between a young rich girl and an older slacker;
the song's resolution initially feels like a shrug, with the things between
them sputtering out when she goes off to college. But it speaks to something
deeper about relationships as a temporary escape from the expectations of real
life, and the eventual obligation to face "real life" again, albeit with a
slightly different perspective.
Stephen Malkmus is a more coherent album than any one Pavement release,
which can be seen as both a good and bad quality. There's less variation
between the songs in terms of structure, but it's the minor tweaks to the
sound that are the things to savor-- the ghostly sample that ties together
"Deado," the silly but completely apropos steel drum bit on "Vague Space,"
the flute that swoops through the snarling trudge of "Black Book." Malkmus
has regained his songwriting stride, and he sounds more confident than he's
been in a long time. There aren't as many extremes or chances taken as some
Pavement fans might like; it's not "important" or "groundbreaking," and it
probably won't make many best-of lists come December. But it's still an
enjoyable album with its share of Malkmus-worthy moments.
-Nick Mirov