Remember a band called Pavement? (Mostly Jick Talk)

[chewm]

You should give Mirror Traffic a try. This one's great, and contains a few of my favorite Malkmus lyrical phrasing of the Jicks era:



And this one with some of my favorite guitar phrasing.

I enjoyed both of these, the second one was particularly great.

[washing machine]

Glad you enjoyed them.

[washing machine]

https://consequenceofsound.net/2018/05/ ... rkle-hard/

The Bad: Though it features a dream collaboration between Malkmus and Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon, “Refute” doesn’t quite live up to its hypothetical coolness. Also, given the effectiveness of “Bike Lane”, the rest of the record could’ve benefited from a little more of the same pointed political commentary. Other than that, there’s not much to complain about, provided you’re a fan of guitar rock made since 1990.

Umm, no thank you. I haven't heard any of these songs yet, but I fail to see how an abundance of pointed political commentary would be a desirable quality in any Malkmus album.

[chewm]

I obviously don't know how it stands against his previous work, but I'm really loving this album.

[chewm]

The auto-tuned songs caught me off guard though.

[tragabigzanda]

I really dig this album, waaaay more than WOAJB. It's probably the most earnest record he's ever done. Will have to spin it a few more times to really get a handle on it, though.

[washing machine]

I might actually do a track by track for this when I have the time.

In short, I really like it.

It ebbs and flows with different tempos and moods. I was skeptical a few posts ago about “pointed political” content (and still think that would be a terrible idea for an album under this band’s name) but Sparkle Hard actually feels like SM has something to say. “Bike Lane” especially hits me where it hurts as I’m type this out while news about Santa Fe HS is open in the very next tab.

Also, could just be the album art and the name of the track that kicks it off, but this thing feels sort of haunted by the ghost of Dennis Wilson.

[tragabigzanda]

Also, could just be the album art and the name of the track that kicks it off, but this thing feels sort of haunted by the ghost of Dennis Wilson.

whoa! Great call.

[tragabigzanda]

Solid Silk is lovely.

[tragabigzanda]

Yeah, I'm spinning this a second time and I could easily see this dethroning Real Emotional Trash as my favorite Jicks album.

WM, would love to read your write-up whenever you get to it.

[tragabigzanda]

I don't know, I'm sort of torn. I feel like it would be a perfect album, and a bold new step, if he tossed the more upbeat stuff and gave us a more concise, serious album.

[washing machine]

Solid Silk is lovely.

he’ll never see the butter side of his daily bread

Could this song have fit on Schmilco?

[tragabigzanda]

Solid Silk is lovely.

he’ll never see the butter side of his daily bread

Could this song have fit on Schmilco?

Yeah, that song has that vibe. Bike Lane sounds like Sonic Nurse, too.

[tragabigzanda]

Come to think of it, Kite sounds like AGIB-era Wilco too.

[chewm]

Solid Silk is lovely.

It really is, it's probably my favorite.

[run2death]

I do like this one more than his others.

Melodies are tight AF.

[run2death]

He finally fully embraced his Brain Wilson tendencies.

[tragabigzanda]

That jam on Kite is pretty epic.

[washing machine]

Think I’m going to pull the trigger on tickets to the Houston show in July. I missed them on the jagbags tour and regret it.

[washing machine]

Counting the hours until not Pavement plays Houston tonight. I almost made it without checking out setlists but couldn't help myself. R2D, did you make it to the Phoenix show?