Most children of the '90s remember Stephen Malkmus as the subdued and casual voice of low-fi mavericks Pavement. His frank renderings of simple melodies set the tone of alternative rock for the decade. Now, almost a decade from the band's 1999 hiatus, people are still holding Malkmus to an old standard. Although Malkmus' new project, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, takes their music in a different direction on their latest album, Real Emotional Trash, Malkmus is prepared for the comparisons.
I don't really mind people comparing old and new. I mean, it's sort of inevitable,"" Malkmust said over the phone from his Portland home. ""If you are just glazing over a review or some text about the Jicks, Pavement is gonna come up. You make connections.""
Besides boasting Malkmus' illustrious history, the Jicks have also recently added Sleater-Kinney alum Janet Weiss, just in time for the foursome's new album.
Malkmus said the album really benefited from the addition of Weiss, who changed the dynamics of the process.
""She's [Weiss] kind of a rumbling, clattering, rocking drummer,"" Malkmus said. ""It's like rolling down a hill playing with her and it gathers some momentum as you go down, more things get added to the ball.""
This approach seems well-suited to the band's performance-oriented albums and fosters their organic approach to songwriting.
""It sort of happens in the moment. You play what you play and it can't exactly be repeated ever again,"" Malkmus said of the band's approach to Real Emotional Trash, due on shelves Tuesday, March 4.
Luckily, Real Emotional Trash was caught on tape and every listener is free to run through the album's 10 tracks over and over again, though recording them just right was a struggle.
The band trekked to Montana to lay down basic tracks in an unfamiliar studio whose untested technology raised questions about how the material would really sound.
""We were a little nervous about the listening conditions and how we recorded it,"" Malkmus said of the first recoding in the Montana facility. ""Then within that time the tape we were recording on shredded and wasn't working right so we had to put it on a computer.""
True to his low-hi, low-fi roots, converting to digital worried Malkmus, though it is a standard practice these days.
The trials of Emotional Trash did not end there, and when the crew's Portland mixing studio fell through, they ended up mixing in New York. But for all the trouble producing the album, Malkmus isn't phased that the album was leaked well before its release date.
""It doesn't really make me feel anything except I just guess it's cool people wanted to hear it already,"" Malkmus said, continuing that he thinks it's a bad idea to be angry about it. ""I hope that people would want to buy the CDs occasionally, because it enables us to record our stuff in a nice studio and enables us to have a quality experience ourselves and therefore a better experience for the listeners.""
The album stays true to the Jicks' sound but refines it in what Malkmus says people are calling ""a nice crystallization of trends in other music we've been making."" There's nothing out of bounds on the album, Malkmus said, adding that old fans may see a more aggressive twist.
In light of success with the Jicks, Malkmus says there is little chance of a Pavement reunion anytime soon.
""I haven't moved on,"" Malkmus said. ""It's not really a priority to me, but it could become one if there was nothing else going on in my life.""
So, unfortunately, the indie children of the '90s will have to keep their tattered copies of Slanted and Enchanted tucked away with their ""Texas is the Reason"" T-shirts and spend their time with some Real Emotional Trash and the Jicks instead.
