STEPHEN MALKMUS

If you took the time to notice you'd see, a bit further down the page, a review for Pavement's Terror Twilight. Now if I was you, and if you haven't done so already, I'd maybe read that review first as this here Stephen Malkmus was actually the lead singer and songwriter from the aforementioned alternative darlings, Pavement. [Actually I've now written a Pavement page.] After their split in 2000-ish he decided to go his own way and promptly released his very own solo album the following year. Suffice to say, although I'm hardly the most experienced in these matters, it sounds a lot like Pavement. Unsurprising really, given he was the major creative force behind them. I'm not really in a great position to judge this work compared with Pavement's catalogue as I only own one, their last, album. This does sound pretty similar although it is maybe a little more left of centre than his band's swansong. Can you use "left of centre" in musical terms? Well, I'm sure you realise I mean it is played less straight and more, well, odd. You know: unusual song structures, meaningless codas, opaque lyrics. Unfortunately, and maybe as a result, the songwriting is not quite up to the level reached on Terror Twilight. Now this in a way sets up something of a controversy as, in my opinion, the best songs on here are those that stick to straight-forward songwriting. Maybe not universally but for the most part. Thus my favourite track on here is the glaringly normal "Jenny and the Ess-Dog" with the most catchy of hooks you're ever likely to hear. Indeed, on first listen a friend of mine thought it was the Beatles - high praise indeed. Lyrically it is an amusing, if slightly twee, account of a doomed relationship. The observations are immaculate and witty ("he's the son of a Coca-Cola middle-man") and it reminds me of Morrissey if he'd been happy instead of miserable. On the other hand, it is a true alt-rock song that almost makes you picture the bumbling but subtly good-looking nerd arriving on campus with a crush on the stunningly attractive yet unrealistically down-to-earth token love interest. Do you think that satirization of teen rom-coms is worthy of Malkmus himself? I dunno, but it would make for some very post-modern lyrics if he did utilise it. The opening "Black Book" is also a straight-up song although it sounds far more serious than anything else on the album. The guitar lines are pretty good as well. Speaking of which, the slide guitar on "Trojan Curfew" is nothing short of gorgeous. A really lovely song, actually. I love the coda as well, it is a shame he couldn't have made more of it. Playing it straight does not always succeed on this album, though, and the uninvolving, power-chord dependent "Discretion Groove" proves it. The best odd song? I guess that honour would fall upon "Jo Jo's Jacket" about, who else, Yul Brynner. OK then. It also features a lyrical recital of the famous verse from Dylan's "It's Alright Ma" about "flesh coloured Christs that glow in the dark". I presume Malkmus was gunning for most cultural references in a single song. The album is somewhat let down by two lumbering narrative accounts which both make time drag a little too much. Lyrically "The Hook" is superficially about being captured by pirates but is obviously a metaphor for his ten years in Pavement. The lyrics aren't fantastic and the repetitive hook (hence the title) starts to bore very quickly. "Pink India" starts off promisingly enough about a bloke from Stoke-on-Trent (a shit-hole, for those of you who didn't know) but I can't say I ever paid attention after the first verse as I always switch off. Well at least the following "Trojan Curfew" quickly makes you forget the previous lengthy endurance. It is a shame I wasn't a bigger fan of Pavement as there is something quite exciting about buying a solo album from a former member of a now defunct band. I couldn't say why but there just is. And you best accept it.

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Email me at: jackfeeny@yahoo.co.uk