Its a rare treat for me to catch an artist for the first time with 4 solid albums under their belt, but that was the case this past Wednesday with little Stevey Malkmus and his Jicks at the recently (re)opened Williamsburg Hall of Music. Now I was never a big Pavement guy in the '90s, but as I started my journey through adulthood I finally found myself appreciating his ever flowing stream of abstractly touching lyrics and wirey, untamed guitar noodling.
The band opened with super banger "Pencil Rot", Janet Weiss bashing out 16th notes like Keith Moon as Malkmus and "one man orchestra pit" Mick Clark strangled out minor guitar harmonies and sprayed them over the crowd like a fire hose. The bulk of the set was naturally drawn from their last record, "Real Emotional Trash", and though I don't think it holds a candle in terms of hooks to 2005's "Face The Music", this group of songs certainly does a great job of framing the current Jicks lineup as a classic rock-sized live force to be reckoned with. I was impressed by the band's ability to cover such a wide range of emotional ground in the course of the set. From vulnerable Neil Youngish balladry to stoner rock riffage with Hendrixian solos that scrape the stratosphere, each section of a song flowed casually into the next, the band expanding and contracting like a balloon. I suppose this is what happens when a prolific and spot on songwriter assembles such a deadly and experienced musical team.
It was great fun watching recording engineer and Jicks bass player Joana "buzzkill" Bolme play the foil to Malkmus's stoned stage ramblings. Never hesitant to be the voice of reason musically as well as socially, Bolme provides an angelic and soothing anchor to Weiss's hard hitting style and Malkmus's wandering, in the moment, leads.
Quote of the night: "I can't do the tit singing. Theres too much tension in the room. Too much vibe."
