Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Electric Ballroom, London
When your other band’s this good shouldn’t Pavement have been left kicked to the curb?
Perhaps unsurprisingly given Pavement’s impending reunion, the atmosphere at tonight’s gig makes it feel slightly like a preview for the main event. Timid patrons loosely congregate in the standing areas at the Electric Ballroom and mutter the P-word – some considerably louder than others – and there seems to be a genuine, if baffling, disappointment that The Jicks do not cheekily throw in any nods to Malkmus’ other band.
All of this is rather unfair; firstly given that Malkmus’ output with the Jicks is often criminally misrepresented as his back catalogue’s poor relation, and secondly because tonight the band are quite superb despite the seemingly ungrateful nature of the audience. The extensive repertoire of songs are roughly divided between punky-pop numbers infused with a joyful immediacy such as ‘Jenny and the Ess-Dog’ and ‘Gardenia’, and long, slow burning freak-jams such as ‘Dragonfly Pie’, both of which sound great. However, even better is when the two ideas are melded, resulting in brilliantly melodic stabs of psychedelia such as tonight’s highlight ‘Hopscotch Willy’. Regardless of type, all are played note-perfectly and with the energy of a band genuinely enjoying themselves (something which couldn’t be said for the last days of Pavement a decade ago).
Indeed, even the typically laconic and occasionally stand-offish Malkmus is in fine spirits, chatting away cheerfully to the crowd and the rest of the band between songs. He also displays an amusing penchant for name checking fellow bands – in this instance we get rips on Andrew WK and Poison, and a knowingly familiar snigger at the Stone Temple Pilots’ expense, whilst more pleasant words are reserved for Damon Albarn and Morrissey. The charm offensive eventually takes its toll, and an hour and a half of banter and songsmithery later, the crowd have finally appeared to thaw and concentrate on enjoying tonight’s show instead of looking forward to next year’s, resulting in a well-deserved rapturous reception for The Jicks’ encore. Which all rather begs the question: when your other band’s this good shouldn’t Pavement have been left kicked to the curb?
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