Inquiring Minds
Flip Your Wig
Now leader of the Jicks, ex-Pavement singer Stephen Malkmus is no slacker.
Neph Basedow
For the guy widely known for putting "slacker-rock" on the musical map, former Pavement front man Stephen Malkmus sure stays busy. His current band, The Jicks — which formed in 2000, immediately after Pavement's demise — has now released more albums than its predecessor, including their sixth, this year's Wig Out at Jagbags.
Whereas relations among Pavement members grew static with time, the Jicks function on an opposite spectrum. Their shows are laid-back, and the members seem to genuinely enjoy one another.
Malkmus doesn't overthink why the Jicks prevail, nor why Pavement didn't. Mainly, he credits their functionality with increased maturity and a relaxed approach.
"We're older now," he notes during a recent phone call. "We have more perspective.
"With Pavement," he continues, "we tried really hard, we traveled a lot, we pushed our agenda on people — and it got really exhausting. It wasn't fun."
"We don't keep our foot on the gas pedal so hard," he says of the Jicks. "We keep it fun, and we keep the touring schedule light, to promote longevity. You burn out in a band if you go too hard."
Now 47, Malkmus still seems like his '90s-era self. He's blasé yet charming, and coolly confident. Now, however, he acknowledges the changes that have materialized over the years.
"[New track] 'Rumble at the Rainbo' is about a kind of nostalgia for music — even though the song's about punkers instead of us aging indie-rockers," he laughs. "But it's all the same. Eventually, the signifiers become settled and the wrinkles come — and that's okay. It's part of life."
The slack-rock innovator is, in reality, quite insightful.
Though Malkmus has never been afraid of picking battles with his lyrics ("Range Life," anyone?), a particularly combative Jagbags track has our attention.
"You have to address 'Houston Hades' when I'm playing a Houston show," he laughs.
Malkmus casts Houston in some questionable light during the track in question, singing: "Houston's Hades for Houston ladies...This town, so impressive from a distance / Listen boy, I'm talking to you."
"First of all," he begins, "the ladies of Houston shouldn't feel bad, because I'm not speaking to them," he says with a hopeful laugh. "So, half the audience should be on my side. That leaves the men of Houston to have to answer to me — a person who's barely ever been there, who's kind of, like, talking shit."
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks play Fitzgerald's Friday, March 7, with Purling Hiss. Doors open at 8 p.m.
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Ask Willie D
Mom's Stepping Out
A reader searches for a delicate way to tell his dad about his mother's suspected cheating.
Dear Willie D:
My mom wrecked her car, and since then she has been alternating between riding to work with me and a male coworker. The other night I took her to work and went in for a few minutes. When I returned to the parking garage, I realized that I didn't have money to pay for parking because I had left my wallet at home. So I went back to ask my mom to pay for the ticket. When I reached her department, I saw her coworker friend pop her on the butt, and she just smiled.
I pretended not to see what happened, and just asked for the money and left. I hate that my mom spends so much time with that slimeball. He also plays poker with my dad, who is totally in the dark on all of this, in part because the guy is married. I know my mom is having an affair and I want to tell my dad, because they are making a good man look like a fool.
I've always thought the world of my mom, but now I'm ashamed of her because it's women like her who give faithful women like myself a bad image. What do you think I should do?
Wanting to Tell:
Talk to your mom and tell her what you saw. Tell her how she hurt you, and ask for an explanation. It will be awkward and painful, but it will serve her notice that her actions are unacceptable.
While a pop on the butt is hardly evidence of an affair, it is an indication that something sexual could be going on, or at least that the potential is there. I know you love your dad, but any confessions about your mother's inappropriate behavior with another man should come from her, not you.