Stephen Malkmus is one of the founders of what is known today as indie rock. His work in the 1990s with Pavement cements him in indie folklore as a king. Since leaving the band in 1999, he has become somewhat of a free spirit, releasing albums when he feels like it and not bowing to current styles. His newest album, “Wig Out at Jagbag’s,” continues this trend of staying honest in his music and keeping his lyrics as witty as ever.
That is where the true brilliance of Stephen Malkmus comes in. His wordplay is unmatched by any other songwriter of the past 20 years. He keeps his puns short and paints hysterical scenes with his words. As Malkmus approaches 50, some of his songs are dedicated to his younger years. In fact, lead single “Lariat” almost feels like his own version of the Springsteen classic “Glory Days.” The line “We lived on Tennyson, Venison and the Grateful Dead / It was Mudhoney summer, Torch of Mystics, Double Bummer” is perhaps the most autobiographical line on the whole album. In those two lines Malkmus includes reflections on his youth (because poetry, steak and stoner rock are all must-haves for teenage survival) and shouts-out to three different Pavement-era bands.
He acknowledges his own age on “Rumble at the Rainbo” as well (which is a tribute to the punk-rock Rainbo Club in Chicago) with the lines “Come and join us in this punk rock tomb / Come slam dancing with some ancient dudes.” Malkmus is both introspective and retrospective at the same time, moaning “I was up for just about anything / Leanin’ hungry ready to spring / And soon enough ‘ya know the time will come / We were put on this earth to shine / Destined for greatness by design,” over second track “The Janitor Revealed.” This sounds like it could be written by any of today’s young and reckless indie-rock bands, yet somehow it’s written by a 47-year-old father of two.
At times, the album can drag into generic guitar-driven indie music, but then it will surprise listeners by going into a sexy trombone solo à la “J Smoov” or smooth reggae sounds such as those at the end of “Rumble at the Rainbo.” Malkmus lures his listeners into a false sense of boredom then wakes them up with his words or the direction the song takes.
“Chartjunk” is supposedly about NBA point guard Brandon Jennings and his selfish, ball-hogging ways. This may be an analogy to the end of Malkmus’s own career with Pavement, but we will likely never know. Final song “Surreal Teenagers” is a fitting closer with smart couplets such as “Reverse creation / Creation in reverse” and “Intellectual oligarchy / Make the music listen.” The song is enjoyable, clever and well put-together overall but it feels as if something is missing from the end of “Wig Out at Jagbag’s”. Perhaps a resolution to Malkmus’s internal conflict or something even greater will reveal itself on future albums.
Malkmus continues to follow the same formula for success he has had throughout the years while injecting new excitement with a balance of horns, synths and guitars. He remains an inspiration to slacker writers everywhere as he tells stories and makes the listener laugh with ease, and at the end of the album you feel like you have just enjoyed a short novel. “Wig Out at Jagbag’s” is easily the best album of 2014 so far and deserves multiple listens to catch all the meaning Malkmus has put into it.
