Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks: 7/8 - 2000/2001

7
2000/11/15, Jicks's first show, Lola's Room (Crystal Ballroom), Portland
Lodi
Iron Man

I only saved these two songs from the Jicks's first public performance (Mike Clark's first appearance!). I remember a bunch of Oasis, Radiohead and Nirvana piss takes, was there even an original song in there? If there was it's probably buried under the tape hiss – it sounds like the taping device was buried deep beneath the stage.

It also sounds like either the band is drunk or I am. This stuff isn't even meant to be any good. And it really isn't, but it's somewhat amusing. It's unfortunately also the first sighting of the screaming woman with the tambourine (not Joanna!). The same band member ruined my first chance at seeing the Jicks in august 2001, but more about that later. Who'd have guessed Malkmus broke up Pavement to get another Gary Young in the band?

Much better was to come...

8
2001/02/06, Köln, DE
Keep the faith
That's what mama said
Alien boy
('Jenny & the Ess-dog' b-sides)

Ah, that's better!

The earliest official Jicks (first line-up) recordings – from one of the earliest tour dates in support of the soon-to-be-released album. Three cover songs that were included on the 'Jenny & the Ess-dog' single. I'd love to hear the whole show! These tracks sound like the encore – well oiled and loose. 'Keep the faith' is funny and rocks in a RAWK kind of way that Pavement never really did. The fake accent throughout (British?) is pretty hilarious.

'Alien boy' is credible LA punk rock (well, Portland punk rock, right?). But of course my favorite is the 6 minutes of guitar pyrotechnics of 'That's what mama said'. It's not Hendrix at sunrise, but I certainly prefer it. Listen and let your mind be blown. Who the hell are Coloured Balls anyway?*

Three thoughts:
- The Jicks were pretty great right off the bat, weren't they? Moen, Bolme, Clark – there is no weak link. I can listen to the little details in the interplay forever. Listen to the ominous end chords of 'Keep the faith' for instance, where John Moen's drums are doing this weird sideways movement around Steve's guitar.
- Of course these early sets were peppered with covers cause he didn't want to play any Pavement songs and there weren't enough originals yet, but they put some effort into 'em in those days. These (and a couple of other 2001 covers) are imaginative choices – someone went through their record collection (Black Oak Arkansas?), and they developed these songs. I do prefer it to the 'let's jam 'em into shape onstage' approach these days.
- It's right here that you hear the distinctive Jicks sound take shape. In my mind, it's 'Terror twilight' and the self-titled album that form the solo years. If Malkmus wanted to explore new directions, the reason he disbanded Pavement wasn't because he'd found them, but because he wanted to go looking. And from these 2001 shows you get the idea that the distinctive 'Pig lib' sound was very much a collaborative result. These covers definitely were a step on the way there.

* I'd never heard the original version before, but that's insane!

Coloured balls - That's what mama said

2001, Unknown location
That's what mama said

There's one other recording of the amazing 'That's what mama said' that I know of, available on YouTube. I guess it's from a show not too long after the Köln one on February 6. This one runs a little longer even!

Both versions are equally great.