Old school indie fun

Listening to the latest record from the former Pavement front man and his backing band, one gets the sense that Stephen Malkmus might be a little uncomfortable with his standing as an indie/underground music icon, or at the very least, he doesn‰’t like what indie/underground music has turned into. Recorded in a remote farmhouse in Belgium, Wig Out at Jagbags takes shots at both “intellectual oligarchs‰” who “try to make the music listen‰” in “Surreal Teenagers‰” as well as those who cling to static, anti-experimentation ideals on the short but genius “Rumble at Rainbo.‰” The music reflects these ideas by being incredibly hard to pin down, it‰’s freewheeling, almost improvisational guitar lines seem intellectual and experimental, whereas the laid back dad rock brass and rhythm section is joyfully lame. Malkmus claims he “can‰’t compete‰” with the too cool for school hipsters living on “Independence Street‰” because he‰’s to “busy being free‰” and making music that he likes, genre classification be damned. Detailing a recent residency in Berlin, Malkmus explained how the foreign nature of the city helped fulfill a “liberating fantasy‰” where he was able to “almost cease to exist.‰” Likewise, The music on Wig Out at Jagbags isn‰’t meant to be criticized, overthought, or used as a “Shibboleth‰” to separate the cool from the uncool; it exists in a world separate from blogosphere buzz bands and hipper-than-thou Pitchfork wielders. Does this mean Malkmus is biting the hand that feeds him? Maybe. But better I‰’ll take a musician who takes joy in his craft than one who tries to cling to relevance any day.

RIYL: Pavement, Wilco, Beck
Recommended: 3, 5, 8, 11