{"title":"Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"mirror-traffic","title":"Mirror Traffic","description":"\u003cp\u003edomino release 'mirror traffic', the 5th post-pavement album from stephen malkmus and the 3rd or 4th to bear the jicks name (depending on whether you're looking at spines, sleeves or labels). produced by beck hansen, 'mirror traffic' makes a compelling case that after some 22 years in the public eye, stephen malkmus' full range of musical and lyrical capabilities had yet to be previously explored.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Domino","offers":[{"title":"LP | x2","offer_id":50409936191819,"sku":"340902","price":20.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50409935831371,"sku":"340901","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Mirror_Traffic_52972a61_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726632758"},{"product_id":"sparkle-hard","title":"Sparkle Hard","description":"\u003cp\u003eModesty and plain good manners might prevent them from saying so themselves, but the fact that Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks have thrived, rather than simply endured over 17 years and delivered six albums of buzzy, sub-cultural significance, constitutes an impressive legacy. The challenge with album number seven is one that any successful band with integrity faces: how to safeguard that legacy and hold on to their identity without rehashing old ground (unthinkable), and also say something meaningful while (crucially) having fun doing it? Meeting that issue head on in the run up to The Jicks’ seventh record involved some “navel gazing”, according to singer, songwriter, and guitarist Malkmus and not only in terms of what it means to be releasing music in 2018. If, like him, you’re a voracious consumer of all kinds of culture and feel the need to interact with it, rather than just react, then inevitably “there’s a world that prompts you to put your best foot forward”. With Sparkle Hard Malkmus, Mike Clark (keyboards), Joanna Bolme (bass) and Jake Morris (drums) do exactly that. And they hit the ground running – on air treads.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt’s light ’n’ breezy, head-down heavy, audacious, melancholic and reflective, goodtime and bodacious, and it pulls off the smartest trick: it’s both unmistakeably The Jicks and – due to the streamlining of their trademark tics and turns, plus the introduction of some unexpected flourishes (Auto-Tune, a fiddle, guest vocalist Kim Gordon, one seven-minute song with an acoustic folk intro) – The Jicks refashioned. If 2014’s \u003ci\u003eWig Out At Jag Bags\u003c\/i\u003e balanced the lengthy prog workouts of \u003ci\u003ePig Lib\u003c\/i\u003e with \u003ci\u003eMirror Traffic’s\u003c\/i\u003e sparky pop moments, then \u003ci\u003eSparkle Hard\u003c\/i\u003e bears less obvious direct relation to what’s come before. It also has turbocharged energy and enthusiasm by the truckload. Malkmus started writing \u003ci\u003eSparkle Hard\u003c\/i\u003e in 2015. He’d upgraded his home-recording equipment and bought some electronic drums and had been working on the Netflix series Flaked (he penned the incidental music and the end theme song). Demos were done in one day in April of 2017 and then in May, The Jicks started recording at a new studio in Portland called Halfling, which is managed by multi-instrumentalist Chris Funk of The Decemberists, who produced the album. Self-indulgent escapism has never been The Jicks’ bag, but on \u003ci\u003eSparkle Hard\u003c\/i\u003e, the reality of modern life sits closer to the surface, communication cutting to the chase whether it’s a proto-punk grind or a back-porch country duet doing the talking. A cleaner burn for dark and complex times.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP - Heavyweight Vinyl with Insert.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP+ - Limited Deluxe Heavyweight Coloured Vinyl with Insert.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Domino","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50413957022027,"sku":"1033228","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50413958562123,"sku":"1033227","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/911e8475-7b6e-4cac-820b-47c980194bdd_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726680253"},{"product_id":"real-emotional-trash","title":"Real Emotional Trash","description":"\u003cp\u003eMuch of \u003ci\u003eReal Emotional Trash\u003c\/i\u003e, Stephen Malkmus' fourth solo lp (this one credited with the jicks, like his second, \u003ci\u003ePig Lib\u003c\/i\u003e), is decidedly low-down and heavy. It could hardly be otherwise with monster drummer Janet Weiss (Sleater Kinney \/ Quasi) now a full-fledged jick. Meanwhile, Malkmus the guitar hero is on full display here. \u003ci\u003eDragonfly Pie, Baltimore\u003c\/i\u003e, and the title track are alchemic combinations of intricate composition and unfettered jam. Malkmus' genius is that he knows exactly when to fetter. these songs may sprawl like the central valley, they may spread out like a jet's flame, but when they reach that last tract house they gracefully spread their wings and head for the unclaimed land beyond. Indeed, although Malkmus makes the pacific northwest his home, this feels like a 'california' album. Check out how \u003ci\u003eReal Emotional Trash\u003c\/i\u003e begins as a modern-day \u003ci\u003eTonight's the Night\u003c\/i\u003e, before evolving into a road trip from the mexican border to marin, in the tradition of Pavement's \u003ci\u003eUnfair\u003c\/i\u003e. and dig those Allman Bros. leads.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Domino","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50491137851723,"sku":"297070","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/5f7809c7-e736-40af-8edf-f49557ce4668_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727682601"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/fr\/collections\/stephen-malkmus-and-the-jicks.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}