Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks: Mirror Traffic

                Pavement’s breakup might have been one of the toughest things to witness. For nearly an entire two years we had to wait for new music from Stephen. Thankfully it sounded basically exactly like old Pavement. Everyone felt happy. I was glad to see it was Stephen with a different backing band. Perhaps everybody in Pavement ended up hating Stephen writing the songs and wanted him to leave. When Stephen found the Jicks, they must have been thinking “Sweet, Stephen writes the songs and we ride his coat tails for a couple of years.”

                Those couple of years has become a full decade. Some people consider the Jicks to be one of the luckiest backing bands ever. Legend has it Stephen found them in a boring part of the Midwest working as a “Led Zeppelin” cover band called “Boron Blimp”. Once they had finished their set and planned on returning to their vans/homes, Stephen offered them indie glory (back when indie meant indie and not ‘Grammy Award Winners’). Jumping at the chance the two have been inseparable. A few people have created a nickname for the relationship with Stephen and the Jicks: they are also known as “Little Boo Peep and the sheep.”

                I remember the joy I’ve had with Stephen’s solo project. One of the first songs I ever played on my radio show was “Pencil Rot” brand new, ready to be unleashed on the college airwaves. Actually, I was offered the extremely lucrative position of unpaid head of the college radio station but being shy I declined. Now I think back to those days of doing nothing but digesting perhaps unhealthy amounts of music looking for the next kick with a tinge of nostalgia. Compared to then I barely listen to any new music. 

                Later on I got to see Stephen play live at the Siren Music Festival in 2008. I talked up how good his performance would be to my friends. Thankfully you did not disappoint me. Seeing you made me realize how people preserved their cool for decades. You’re from the 90s, your music makes that abundantly clear. Each time I hear you it is revisiting the 90s all over again.

                Your newest album comes out on August 23^rd called “Mirror Traffic”. One track is available for streaming thus far though I expect it will leak sometime in late July/early August. Perhaps you’ll benefit from a ‘90s wave’ I see approaching us with the disinterest of millions of slackers. I mean you even used Beck as your producer, if that doesn’t scream 90s, I don’t know what does. The first track you’ve given us sounds like every other track you’ve ever written for any band you’ve ever been a part of. Consider that as the highest compliment. When so many musicians change their styles over and over again, others make essentially the same (or similar) albums. Each release might be interchangeable with any other. 

What will the critical reaction be? Honestly, I think it might not be that receptive. Since Pavement is now a rather old (but not too old band) their most adamant fans have stopped being music reviewers and moved on to actual real jobs. Not being old enough means they have not yet been considered a major influence for enough up and coming bands to receive warm praise from younger generations. Their most dedicated fans tend to avoid online leaks, so when the album leaks (as all albums do) people will not have enough time to properly hype it. Instead the reviewer will give it some sort of ‘mediocre’ or ‘meh’ review. To escape this fate would require a great deal of work on Stephen’s part and Stephen isn’t known for anything approximating hype or work. 

Pavement changed my life. Stephen’s later career work, while not in the same realm as his original work, still satisfies a certain need. In the probable case he reverts back to his old sound I’ll be perfectly happy. But if he decides to confound expectations and release an album harking back to Pavement’s glory days, I’ll be ecstatic. Either way I’m happy.  

Archers of Loaf

                 Yeah, I’ve been holding my breath for some massive 90s revival. I call it a revival since so many of the 90s bands had such a devoted following, bordering on the religious.  Every album I have from the early 90s I’ve studied fairly well whether it be Post-Rock (Slint) or the embodiment of indie rock perfection (The Pixies). Both of those bands have since gone touring, along with smaller bands with more rabid fan bases (Polvo in particular, where one fan flew from the Midwest just to see them rock out at Brooklyn Bowl).

                There’s one group I want to see return: the slackers. I miss slackers a lot; I grew up with some of them. Now they either got productive or remained in their parents’ basements. Slackers created some sweet tunes, perhaps some of my favorite music of all time. Now I’m not saying that I’m upset Pavement has returned to us, that is a good start for the slacker wave, but not really the definition.

                No, I’m talking about those bands that will never come back to us. Ones who got busy, got money, and will thus fail to return to us. So when I see one of those ‘Jesus, I never thought you’d return’ bands do so, I’m usually fairly psyched. If they decide to release another album, I’m happy but it really isn’t necessary.

                Archers of Loaf are coming back for what appears to be a fairly decent-sized tour. They will hit north, south, east, west, and even the middle section of the United States of America. Countless college radio stations will see DJs from decades past reconnect for the sole purpose of scoring free tickets. I may decide to call a few people and see if I can get some if I promise to do a ‘webcast’ or something.

                Really though, I think Archers of Loaf might be next to the word ‘slackers’ in the dictionary along with Guided By Voices. Both of those bands sounded more like they were hanging out than making actual music. That remains a selling point for both of them especially thirty or forty-somethings who wax nostalgic for the early 90s, when allegedly better indie music and film existed, before it was co-opted by market forces.

                In preparation, I’ve decided to revisit the Archers of Loaf seminal album, Icky Mettle. Listening to it, I’m reminded I got into them as soon as I became a college radio DJ. For some college radio stations, it is required listening before you start on the air. “Web in Front” I wanted them to be my spine, to keep me strong against the forces of work, the needs of our economy, GDP, and so on. When I heard this song, I think I played it on repeat for a couple of days. Never has two minutes of my life sounded so nice. 

                Slackers will make a comeback with this reunion tour, I’m certain of it. Like the early 90s, we have high unemployment and what I’m beginning to realize is a pretty interesting underbelly of countless bedroom musicians, bedroom writers, bedroom film makers, and so on. Let’s hope Archers of Loaf lead us to that lazier, happier land.

...Ever have one of those days where you miss something so much, you wish you could turn back Time for it?

As I get older, I wax nostalgic for those more idyllic times. Now that I’m a productive member of the workforce, I am forced to hide my cool music references as people around me discuss sports statistics. Blankly I nod my head in agreement as they talk about overpaid athletes. Yeah, those athletes I’ve never heard of, in that sport I don’t follow in any way, shape or form are overpaid. 

Browsing my facebook, I know I’m not alone in this. Not all my friends work in office settings, some work as BestBuy returns specialists. That means that they are responsible for getting you your money back if you are not 100% satisfied with your purchase. Others work for their dad in various construction ventures. With all these differences in pay, social interaction, and environment they all share one thing in common:

            They miss college.

Oh, the days spent on the green in front of the Stalinist architecture that was the library. Days seemed to go on forever, with interactions with your social peers occurring on a fairly regular basis. Everybody knew what reference that was, you didn’t seem weird. I mean, who didn’t memorize every line from Woody Allen’s movies in the 70s? 

Life is hard. College was easy. You’re uncomfortable being the youngest person in your workplace. People there tell you about how their children or grandchildren are your age. Sometimes they’ll even talk about how well you two would get along. They think out loud about how they should hook you up with them and as you grow nervous, they’ll laugh it off. Instead of admitting that they were making you uncomfortable unintentionally, they’ll say it was deliberate. But then to completely throw you off your game they’ll take about how their children aren’t dating people ‘as good as’ you. So you’re stuck.

Yes, relationships at work are virtually impossible. No matter where you work, those areas have been fully sterilized. There’s no passion, no raw love allowed on those premises. You miss the days where you’d go into a large pile of people and wriggle around, since you were a very strange person. At your job, people don’t do that. In fact, for most of your adult life (excluding a select few) you’ll never encounter that joy again.

Being a twenty-something is unfortunate. This is the period that is foretold to be awesome, but really you get treated like an awkward kid. Instead, you’re just kind of missing out on the fun of being in college while not treated with any sort of respect you’d get being a tad bit older. Don’t worry though, as soon as you hit thirty, immediately you’re considered to be ‘serious’ with all the responsibilities that entails. Oddly enough those are the exact responsibilities you had in your twenties, only now you’re acknowledged for them. So what can you do in the meantime, the in-between time?

 This

Can you simply wear a revealing one piece bathing suit as you walk around the battleship the USS Missouri? I think that’s been done, by none other than the immensely talented Cher. 

Walking around the battleship to adoring sailors, she sings about “If I could turn back Time” harking back to better times. “Words are like weapons they wound sometimes” she belts out as the battleship begins attacking an enemy Soviet sub. Russian planes try to bomb the battleship in a failed attempt to stop her singing, but these colors don’t run. Those Russian planes are downed thanks to the support Cher’s voice gives to the anti-aircraft missiles.

Never fret then. By watching this video, it feels like you are turning back Time. You can feel the rush of being in college, of working at your local radio station and ensuring all copies of this song were promptly destroyed, of hanging out in piles of people. Well, I’m glad to allow those memories to flood to you again. If only I could turn back time.