Favorites of 2014: Number 10

10. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Wig Out at Jagbags.

I’m a huge Pavement fan and thought that Malkmus’s last album (Mirror Traffic) was the best thing he’d done since the late 90s. This album isn’t on the same level but still has its charms and a lot of what he does works for me. Malkmus is at his best when his pop sensibilities are featured, so it’s probably not too surprising that I think Lariat is the highlight of the album.The overall effect is like a Pavement album filtered through the prism of 70’s California Rock (Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan, Eagles). On Cinnamon and Lesbians, he appropriates (or flat out rips off, depending on your point of view) The Grateful Dead’s St. Stephen.

It’s a loose album, which gives the band room to experiment and be playful. On a few tracks, though, this winds up as an unfocused tendency to meander. Throughout Malkmus’s career, even on Pavement’s best material, there’s an underlying laziness which often led to a sense of tension that’s missing here. It used come off as if he thought “This song is gonna be awesome…I’ve got a great hook…production qualities are good…just gotta get the last 30 seconds finished…eh, screw it…this is good enough.” On this record, Malkmus appears to have wholeheartedly embraced who he is, which probably accounts for the relaxed/unfocused feel. It’s not for everyone, in fact it’s probably not for most people, but I really liked it.