STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS.....HELLLLLS YEAH!

This entry is a review of two things, one is the new album by STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS, EMOTIONAL TRASH the other is of their show last night here in Atlanta at the Variety Playhouse.

This new album, EMOTIONAL TRASH is freakin' incredible. I have listened to it over and over again, and every damn song is good. It blows away the last two records SM threw at the listening public by a mile. With exceptional lyrics and catchy tunes, what makes this record pop is the guitar play. The guitar licks on this record slap you right in the head, and you can't help but jam along with your air guitar. The song "Willie Hopscotch" is the best example of this, there is a guitar solo that is out of this world, it is just effin' incredible. Also, there is a 10+ minute song, "Emotional Trash", you don't even realize it is that long because it is such a pleasurable listen. From start to finish this is a great record, could be the best stuff SM has done since the demise of Pavement. The boy, my boy, really digs this record. He jams along with almost every song when we listen to it.

Now on to the show. Last nights show (3-26-08) at Variety Playhouse in Atlanta was pretty damn good. The music kicked ass and the banter with the crowd was pretty damn funny. They played almost every song from the new record, and played them to perfection. SM's guitar playing is incredible, I had no idea he was that good. On some songs he and Mike Clark played back and forth, building off each others guitar playing, it was sweet. Clark also played a mean keyboard. Janet Weiss is one hell of a drummer, she brought her a-game and beat the hell out of those skins. SM's singing was right on the money. The highlights were "Vanessa From Queens" and "Willie Hopscotch", they played the hell out of Willie.....damn that was good.

The only negative thing I have to say is the show seemed a bit short. They played for an hour, then did a 2 song encore, so it ended up being right at a 1 1/2 hour show. It was still damn good though.

There is something that needs to be said about the amount of assholes at the show. There was constant talking during the songs. Maybe it is just me, but I pay money to listen to the music, not discuss my day with my buddies. There also were a whole lot of people yelling for Pavement songs inbetween tunes. SM did a great job of pretty much ignoring this. On the way out I actually heard people trashing the show because he didn't do any Pavement songs. The show was Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, that is who you paid to see, so I don't know why you are getting pissed you didn't hear "Gold Sounds" or "Cut Your Hair" or "Spit On A Stranger" (these were a few titles that were screamed out).

The assholes aside, top notch show, well worth the 18 bucks.