Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks - Real Emotional Trash
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Stephen Malkmus & the JicksEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2008-03-04
Music Label: Matador Records
Soundtracks:
- Dragonfly Pie
- Hopscotch Willy
- Cold Son
- Real Emotional Trash
- Out Of Reaches
- Baltimore
- Gardenia
- Elmo Delmo
- We Can't Help You
- Wicked Wanda
Free Music Notes for Real Emotional Trash
Free Music Review: If ever there was a grower
Hit: 5 Stars
Before the release of this, Stephen Malkmus' fourth album following the breakup of his name-making band, Pavement, finding a relation between the quality of the man's output to how much control he had over the writing, playing and recording of his songs was inevitable. Pavement, surely a spirited crew of chums to the end, could hardly keep up with Malkmus' talent following the beautiful mess that was Wowee Zowee. Likewise, his first and third solo albums - the ones he wrote, played and recorded almost entirely by himself - were better than his second, Pig Lib, which was great, but at times uneven. Real Emotional Trash, Malkmus and Company's first album since the addition of Sleater-Kinney and Quasi drummer Janet Weiss, is the most collaborative Malkmus-related album since he and Spiral Stairs were destroying guitars in Gary Young's home studio in 1991. Because of this, yes, it's different than any other Malkmus project, but don't worry, it's also very good and - along with Slanted and Enchanted and Stephen Malkmus - his most cohesive record, playing through with a very organic, live-in-studio feel, a rare attribute no other Malkmus album can wholly claim.
Does this added element of collaboration water down the Malkmus-isms that make his records so special? Maybe. Maybe a little bit here and there, but not necessarily in a way that taints the brilliance of his craft. After a few listens, the meaty-as-hell guitar riffs and slow-pounding classic rock rhythms that open the album come off as an anthem for a new kind of Jick. Malkmus rips all over opener "Dragonfly Pie," showing that he has no problem keeping up with Weiss' every pounding expectation, proving that the noodle-y winks spread throughout his past were no joke. The song, like any good Malkmus offering, inevitably turns silly, with our man splitting time between breaking out his familiar girly voice for obscure lyrics like "shake me off the knife because I want to go home" and tearing through heavy, dirty guitar solos. The stoner/pop duality of this song sets the stage for Real Emotional Trash, an album that sees Malkmus and his Jicks playing always organic rock n' roll that sounds exactly how an album from a crew of 90s rockers bent on both 70s music and the quirkier side of Brit-pop should.
The seven-minute "Hopscotch Willie" is a surprisingly fluent trip, harboring Malkmus' least obscure lyrics since his eponymous solo debut. Still a clinic in obscurity compared to the normal college radio tune, "Willie" manages to be lengthy without ever feeling loopy, mixing solos and movements in a pseudo-prog, kitchen-sink-Zeppelin sort of way we haven't yet heard from Malkmus. This is not surprising, really, considering the ever-growing amount of goofy guitar noodling on his records. Next up is "Cold Son," one of Trash's shortest offerings at just under four minutes. Here Malkmus again splices his stoner/pop loves into one, crafting a trippy-but-poppy song made to satisfy Wowee Zowee-era Pavement enthusiasts.
A diverse approach to the Jick brand of stoner-pop keeps Real Emotional Trash's songs from ever sounding too similar. Live-in-studio sound in tow, songs like "Baltimore" and, especially, "Real Emotional Trash" are at fist challenging, clocking in at around seven and 10 minutes each. "Baltimore," Trash's default lead single, will appeal to the "jam kids" Malkmus himself snarkily sang about in the mid-90s. Full of silver-tongued lyrical poetics and what appears again to be a prog-rock approach to long-form pop, the song feels more like a journey than a jam, trading off memorable one-liners, hooks and guitar solos to sweetly stitched-together results. The album's title track, likewise, attempts to be epic without ever falling into the loopy category. Malkmus knows what a jam is, surely, but doesn't play by the rules. Rather than wanking around indulgently on his guitar, "Real Emotional Trash" sees Malkmus working in chapters, building a cohesive song-for-the-ages that displays his self-taught guitar prowess better than anything else he's recorded in his nearly 20-year professional career.
But, like we were saying, this is an album built on diversity - one that contains a few pure pop ditties. "Gardenia," for one, is unapologetically bouncy and sugarcoated with "bop-bop-ba-da-da-da" backing vocals; it's the kind of wordy, joyous pop song that only Stephen Malkmus could dream up. Along with the aforementioned "Cold Son" and classic sounding "We Can't Help You" (think Wilco's recent "What Light"), "Gardenia" reminds listeners of the man's initial genius. He's a master of left-field pop and, believe it or not, he's somehow found a way to take said simple genre's backbone and make it breathe. He's writing songs that he and his band will surely be able to open up on stage when they feel like it - songs that, without being too "jammy" on record, are made to grow. Pop songs made perfect for changing each time they're played, kind of like The Grateful Dead's American Beauty, only completely different.
Collaborative, heavy-in-sound and full of weirdo slacker charm, Real Emotional Trash is another great chapter in the long book of SxMx. Be it a Pavement, Silver Jews or Jicks record, Leather McWhip refuses to do the same thing twice. Calling this one of the very best records of his career - if only for its ambition, unique yet subtle genre-melding and skillful playing - would not be inaccurate. Calling it the first great album of 2008 is a no-brainer. (Greg Locke)
Real Emotional Trash Poster
Stephen Malkmus has never made a record that covered nearly as much stylistic ground as this nor, it could be argued, has Stephen made an album until now that packed as much of an emotional (not nearly trashy enough for some) wallop. "Cold Son," "Out of Reaches" and "We Can't Help You" are amongst the more gorgeous, contemplative songs Malkmus has recorded, though we should stress a) there's no shortage of dark humor scattered through RET and b) Malkmus remains a sh*t-hot guitarist (ridiculously so).If you?ve never heard Stephen Malkmus, you might want to begin with one of the more accessible of his four solo albums, be it the self-titled debut or 2005?s watertight Face the Truth. But if you?re familiar with his individual work or that of his former band, Pavement, Real Emotional Trash will settle right in as the next chapter of the eccentric Portlander?s prolificacy. Leading the Jicks this time is ex-Sleater-Kinney drummer (and backing vocalist) Janet Weiss, who--while she never lets loose to pound her skins to oblivion--does manage to reel in the band on extended jams like that of the intricate "Elmo Delmo," a bluesy murder yarn called "Hopscotch Willie," or the sprawling 10-minute title track. Malkmus?s guitar fixation tends to overshadow his roguish, pop-sharp song craft this time around, with fewer catchy choruses and more axe-driven bypasses, save for the peculiar "Cold Son" and the joyful live-show staple "Gardenia." Then again, Trash's capriciousness and experimental willingness are what gave Malkmus an audience in the first place--and what promise to keep it coming back for more. --Scott Holter
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