If you were alive in the 90s and even remotely interested in rock music outside the mainstream, you've either heard SM, or you've heard artists who were influenced by him. As leader and frontman for the band Pavement, Stephen Malkmus introduced ideas that would influence a generation of aspiring college radio rockers. From his quirky melodies and bizarre, loopy lyrics to the non-equal-tempered tunings, and the bursts of lovely, crunchy noise, Pavement were like the Beatles of the 90s indie-rock scene.
When the breakup news came after their fifth album, much concern was had by all. "This can't be happening", we said, with our heads in our hands. As it turned out, our fears were without merit.
Not to disparage any of the other musicians from Pavement, but it turns out SM is the kind of singer-songwriter who takes his style and feel with him, regardless of the other musicians playing with him. This is not to take away from the Jicks either, I'm simply saying Pavement fans have enjoyed an organic development of music through the two bands.
With the release of his fourth album with the Jicks under his belt, he brought his show to the WOW Hall in Eugene Wednesday night.
First the bad news. Even during Pavement days, old songs were poorly represented in their set. The older the album, the fewer songs from it they played, but I can deal with that. The bigger problem was that they would be the same from tour to tour. If you want to focus on your new stuff, fine. But if you're only going to play one song from your first album, at least re-learn a different one for the next tour.
Having seen SM with the Jicks for the second year in a row, I sadly report that this is still his MO. Last year we got "Jo-Jo's Jacket", this year we got "Jo-Jo's Jacket". Compounding the problem is that we didn't even really get anything new. While he may have had an new album out, the fact is those songs were done a long time ago... long enough to have played them on the last tour.
But enough of that. Let's talk about the good things (which far outweigh my complaint).
First of all, the band. Janet Weiss, drummer for Sleater-Kinney, joined the band last year, and she is a welcome addition. Powerful and energetic, her distinct style gives the band more edge and dynamics than it had previously. Joanna Bolme laid down solid bass lines, chatted with the crowd, and generally was a lot more pleasant to look at than Pavement's Mark Ibold. Both women provided back-up vocals, which added a nice, distinctly Jicks texture. Mike Clark on second guitar and keyboards filled in spaces and added power.
This band is more likely to go off on improvisational flights than Pavement, although they still remain grounded in the songs. SM has never gotten over his shyness on stage, facing Mr Clark more than the audience and letting his hair obscure his eyes. But you'd never know it by listening. His signature guitar style and vocal delivery were in evidence as always.
I already mentioned the lack of surprise in the set list proper, but that changed during the encore. I don't know if we got a little something extra due to Oregon being his adopted home state or if he was just in the mood to go nuts, but they played a hefty five songs, including "Jenny and the Ess-Dog" from the first album (which mitigates somewhat my forgoing complaint), as well as two covers.
The first cover (and first song of the encore) was "Remedy", by the Black Crowes. This one was obviously rehearsed and planned, and it rocked. A couple more new songs, and then it seemed like it was over, but then SM goes and talks to his band mates, and voila! An unrehearsed, unplanned "Jenny and the Ess-Dog". Bonus!
After this, both the audience and the band were looking to SM to see what the plan was. SM goes to Ms Bolme, teaches her a riff, and then they launch into... "Godzilla", by Blue Oyster Cult. I'm not even kidding, that was cool.
Overall, it was a great show, because it's a great band with a great singer/songwriter/leader. But as a standout show, only the encore saved it.
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