Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
The El Rey
Saturday, Jan. 6
Stephen Malkmus sporting facial hair was on the list of things I
never thought I’d see. It wasn’t because I didn’t
think he’d grow any, but because I thought he was physically
incapable of doing so.
Unlike other indie musicians such as J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr.,
Malkmus, 40, has barely aged at all since his former band,
Pavement, debuted in 1992. He is perpetually 20 years old, both in
appearance and demeanor.
Malkmus’ show at the El Rey, with his backing band, The
Jicks, was preceded by an opening set by L.A.-based band Entrance.
Sounding like an odd combination of psychedelic folk and blues,
notable moments during the set occurred when lead singer and
guitarist Guy Blakeslee broke a high E string on his guitar, which
he actually holds upside down (Blakeslee, who is left-handed,
learned to play the guitar upside down instead of purchasing a
left-handed guitar). Blakeslee and Entrance provided exactly the
sort of quirky prelude to Stephen Malkmus that a fan of his music
would expect.
When Malkmus and The Jicks appeared onstage, the most
immediately noticeable thing was what could only be described as
Malkmus’ porn star mustache. Once the initial shock of
Malkmus’ newfound facial hair wore off, he surprised
listeners by playing mostly new material from an as-yet-unannounced
new album.
The set included various songs from across Malkmus’ solo
career, such as “Jo Jo’s Jacket” from his
eponymous first album, which he appropriately used to open the
show. Other tracks, such as the more hard-edged “Dark
Wave,” off 2003’s “Pig Lib,” broke up the
set in between the barrage of new tunes that Malkmus unleashed upon
the audience.
Of course, the problem with hearing mostly new songs comes when
concertgoers are hearing them for the first time at the show.
Listening to new music is an experience of discovery and is hard
enough to do on one’s own; it’s even harder when
listening to something for the first time in a concert setting.
Often, I’ve found myself getting lost while listening to new
music for the first time in situations like this (it even happened
with Radiohead this summer when the band favored new material).
Many of Malkmus’ new songs are more improvised and jammy
than his old ones, though this could be Malkmus doing what he did
in Pavement, where the band would frequently tweak and test out new
songs on the road before recording them, literally writing songs on
tour. This being the case, it is difficult to tell whether the
songs will end up good or bad, though the performances were
enjoyable enough.
New to The Jicks on this current tour is former Sleater-Kinney
drummer Janet Weiss, who fits in seamlessly with the other members
of the group. Seeing Weiss practically smash her drum kit was a
welcome sight, especially so soon after S-K’s untimely
demise.
It’s worth mentioning how much Malkmus’ speaking
voice is identical to his singing voice. Hearing him speak in
exactly the same tone in which he sings adds to his famously
lackadaisical image ““ it toes the fine line between careless
and cool, his onstage mumbling and banter painting the exact
picture I had come to expect.
Perhaps Eddie Argos, lead singer of British group Art Brut, sang
it best: “Yes, this is my singing voice. It’s not
irony; it’s not rock ‘n’ roll. We’re just
talking, to the kids.” At 40, Stephen Malkmus is still able
to do that.
Even if he still looks and acts like one of the kids.
E-mail Humphrey at mhumphrey@media.ucla.edu.