Oct 2012 – Oct 2013
Wig Out at Jagbags
Recorded oct 2012 at La Chappelle Studios, Ardennes, Belgium
Vocals recorded oct 2013 in East Berlin
Personnel: SM / Jake Morris/ Joanna Bolme / Mike Clark + Remko Schouten (some shakers, backing vocals), Ika Gunnarson (flute), Talia Czernik (cello), Berlin bi-lingual ensemble (horns)
I've not neglected 'Wig out at jagbags' since it came out. I still remember hearing it for the first time – when it was available for free online streaming. I sat hunched over the inadequate laptopspeaker in our livingroom. My son was running around doing some roleplay – loudly. My daughter was sleeping, waking up, hungry, then sleeping again. And in between the noise I let the new music by one of my favorite artists sink in. I knew a number of songs from the live tapes, others were unfamiliar. The two things that struck me immediately were the lightness of the record, the positive feeling, and the enlarged sound palette. You could say, the first spin made me realize a couple of things I didn't know I'd been missing in the Jicks for a while.
I listened to bits and pieces of the stream again later, but I wanted to wait for the arrival of my own copy Then the stream was closed and my copy took a long while to arrive. I was already reconstructing it in my mind, missing the record. Finally it arrived and not a week has gone by that I haven't played it. But that's only about twelve weeks (at the time I'm writing this). It took me four years to get 'Face the truth'. I only felt I really got handle on 'Mirror traffic' when I was writing my review for this thread, two and a half years after its release. I loved listening to those records before of course, but to really feel I had a handle on the specific nature of the record, what it had to say to me, maybe what Stephen meant for it to say... That's part of what I love about this music – it's damn enjoyable on the surface, but therey's always a couple of layers underneath, waiting patiently for when the penny drops. I'm always happy to give a Jicks record some extra time – he hasn't let me down yet. But... it puts me in a spot writing this review. There are so many facets of this record I'm sure I'll get around to sooner or later. I haven't paid much attention to the lyrics yet, for instance. I've been soaking up the melodies, the riffs and the sound.
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With that in mind, let's recapitulate the facts, the creative process that went into the record. Three waves of songwriting:
1. The first inklings are heard at an august 2011 solo show at Disjecta: 'Independence street', an instrumental 'Surreal teenagers' and a glowing ballad 'J Smoov'. A couple weeks later the Jicks deliver a stunning, definitive 'Surreal teenagers' at the Jimmy Fallon show. During the fall 2011 tour these songs are set regulars and they're joined by 'Planetary motion', 'Scattegories', an early and heavy 'Flower children'. 'Pick up the spare' is one the setlist but not played (at least, not recorded). These early songs are in line with the last two Jicks albums. The knotty proto-prog of 'Planetary motion' and 'Surreal teenagers', the heavy '70s vibe of 'Scattegories' and 'Flower children'. They're all a little more compact, a little hookier but not remarkably so. 'Independence street' and 'J Smoov' are warmer, rootsier than the soulbaring on 'Mirror traffic', but they continue the line.
2. Much was made in the press of how 'Wig out' was the first record for which the writing was influenced by the Pavement reunion tour. I don't buy it – one look at the songs from the first wave should dispell that notion. It's just wishful thinking. Stephen insulated himself from the music Pavement played night after night – you could see it on stage. More than by ten months of Pavement, Stephen was swayed by one remark his wife made (a great remark). He talked about it in a recent interview (can't remember which one) and I believe him. To make his music more positive. During the summer 2012 tour the first results pop up in the setlist: 'Lariat', 'Houston Hades', 'Chartjunk', a resurrected 'Cinnamon & lesbians', the unreleased 'Blind imagination', a more open re-arrangement for 'Flower children'. The mix of the two songbatches makes up the backbone of the record.
3. The last wave of songwriting must've occured between the august tour and the october recordings (or maybe slightly earlier but the songs weren't ready yet to feature live). Three songs: 'Rumble at the rainbo', 'Shibboleth' and 'The janitor revealed'. These songs are of a piece with the second wave, but more so. All three of them have definite choruses! (One evolution I hope Stephen takes along for the next record.) Besides that, the songs occupy very specific slots in the record, which makes me think he had a definite idea about the new record in his head and he was filling in the vacant positions or fixing specific problems in the heap of songs they had ready. 'Shibboleth' picks up from 'Blind imagination' and accentuates certain aspects of that earlier song: the rock bassriff, the abrasive synth, the swaying chorus. 'Rumble at the rainbo' picks up the titular theme of 'PR tomb' and weaves a fitting song around it, leaving 'Chartjunk' free of ill fitting punk connotations, ready for pop treatment. 'The janitor revealed' is the philosophical ballad to replace 'Flower children' which they never did seem to get a handle on.
4. The writing done, in october 2012 (not in 2013 as the sleevenotes state) the Jicks went into a small studio in the Belgian Ardennes and laid down the basic tracks for the record in a week of sessions. If we want to go into the influence of the reunion tour on 'Wig out', this is where it happens. The tour brought Stephen and Remco Schouten – long serving Pavement live soundman, also of the 2001 Jicks tours and inspiration for '1% of 1' – back into contact. Remco was brought in to engineer the sessions and mix the record, one of the really good decisions that went into making the record. In short Remco knows how Stephen's songs work, knows how to make Stephen sound good – not too heavy, but not wimpy, like the guitar parts just flow out of him off the cuff (even when they've been rehearsed), kind of impetuous, raggd but in the moment and always melodic – knows how to make bands soud good playing Stephen's songs. More so than any record since 'Face the truth' they make use of the possibilities of the studio. There are definitely more guitars on 'Planetary motion' than there are people in the Jicks. Not to mention some heavy vocal effects buzzing. You notice different set-ups: an acoustic guitar here and there, lots of multitracked solos, different bass sounds, percussion ('Chartjunk'!) and especially, a lot of keyboards. Another great thing about the record are all of the keyboard sounds and melodies. Each songs gets its own tone colour from these keyboard parts (the electric piano on 'Janitor revealed', the synths on 'Shibboleth', the amazing sounds of 'J Smoov', the piano on 'Independence street', the '70s organ on 'Scattegories'...)
By the way, 'Wig out' is an Iced Wave production according to the sleeve notes. I wish I could tell you what that means. The phrase also appeared on 'Pig lib'.
5. At some point in his career Bob Dylan discovered you didn't have to record the vocals at the same time as the backing track. It was probably in or around 1979. Since then he's been amusing himself tossing off anonymous backing tracks, spending ages writing and rewriting lyrics, recording countless vocal tracks for the same backing track until he's satisfied.
By technical happenstance Stephen may have discovered a similar possibility during the 'Real emotional trash' sessions. In any case, he did the same thing (short session for backing tracks, months of intermediate vocal sessions) for 'Mirror traffic' and again for 'Wig out'. Taking the Ardennes-backing tracks with him to Berlin, he spent most of 2013 toying with them, finalilizing the record only in october 2013, a year on. For this he hooked up with Fran Healy of Travis-fame (whatever else I think about his music, he knows a thing or two about vocals). According to the 'Wig out' liner notes all of the vocals were recorded by Fran (even the Remco backing vocals?). Not just the vocals, I'd venture most (if not all) of the guest musicians were recorded during this period. There are flute and cello overdubs, which I haven't even located yet (any ideas?). It's the horn arrangements that draw attention most (by the Berlin bi-lingual ensemble, if that's a real band). I love them on 'J Smoov', they blend in with the band so well, the match between organ sound, guitar sound and horns is perfect. I'm less convinced by the horns on 'Chartjunk' – nice idea, but it ends up sounding like a band of German pensioners attempting to groove American-style. Awkward.
In the Rumpus-interview, Stephen expressed particular satisfaction with the lyrics on the new album. He compares them favorably to the last album. Now, I think the lyrics to 'Mirror traffic' were excellent, so I don't know what his problem is with them. I haven't had a chance to really dig in to the 'Wig out ' lyrics yet. There are a couple of fine, meaningful songs certainly ('Janitor revealed', 'J Smoov', 'Lariat'). On the other hand (as Dylan experienced as well), all this time to work on the lyrics, all the refining, there's a risk of losing your spontaneity, or ending up with dead meaning. There's a couple of those moments on the record as well (I'll go into that later).
6. Finally, the mixing was done in Amsterdam by Remco and Joanna. Two experts. I don't know why Remco never got to work on a Pavement album. It could've been great. Joanna was involved in mixing the first two Jicks albums (if I'm not mistaken – possibly later albums as well?). Those are great credentials in my book, and with this one they add another notch to their belts. There's a lot going on on this album, it's deceptively straightforward. But it's a deep sound. I haven't even found the cello and the flute yet, let alone all the percussion.
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The results of all that work form the second most varied album of Stephen's solo career – after 'Face the truth' which is hard to beat in that respect, but then 'Wig out' is more consistent in quality. The inventive arrangements accentuate the differences between the songs even more. Everyone contributes to that, but special mention to:
Mike's keyboard playing which is really on a par with his career high contributions to 'Pig lib'
the expansion of the sound palette with percussion, horns, cello and flute.
And it fulfills its brief. After the last two rather serious, arid albums, 'Wig out' is a blast: upbeat, funny. It's more pop than any album since the debut. The title 'Wig out at jagbags' reflects the sound perfectly. I don't know that it means a hell of a lot, it's more like an entry for an underground crossword puzzle. Or a cult '80s teen movie. It's cryptic and messy but also inclusive (cause it just feels really nice to say) and funny.
All that said, my listening so far has been very positive, but right now, in my estimation, it's a record of two halves.
Side A is glorious – I seriously can not think of a better album side in the Jicks' career. The first three songs – each song is better than the last. Then songs 4, 5 and 6 are the long, sustained peak of the album.
'Planetary motion' is not the greatest song in the world, but it is a glorious rock nugget, and here – in a deep production of guitar and bass overdubs, intersecting vocal lines laden with echoing effects and so on – it emerges tight, spontaneous and swinging. Stephen minds the lyric 'yellow odyssey'. I really like the way the word 'yellow' is phrased. The prominent use of wah-wah is apt.
'The janitor revealed' has a reflective lyric about wishes and realities over the course of a lifetime. The tune is intricate but welcoming. Big fan of the extended break after the first chorus. There's a moment where the whole song relaxes and Mike hits a couple of keyboard notes which perfectly illustrate the passing of time between the first chorus and the following verse (years have gone by). In the list of album influences (that was published as album promotion) you may have wondered at the mention of 'Red hot chili peppers (Malkmus interpretation of)' (something like that). It's the guitar on the instrumental verse right after the break. I'm sure of it. Maybe cause the song was written quite recently (at the time of recording), the ending is underdeveloped, but I forgive'em.
The performances on this record are real tight, but Remco and Joanna leave in the rough edges at the end of most songs. Players unwinding after a moment of concentration. It's these moments that give the record its looseness.
'Lariat' is just a perfect Jicks single in this day and age. This and 'Dynamic calories' may be the only songs in the world that could make me contemplate listening to '80s rock again.
'Houston Hades' is even better, with its Keith Moon-intro (built for Jake) and classic riff. I really love it, but I told you there are moment when the refinement of the lyrics takes away from spontaneous invention. The second verse about Slim Shadies and cool crime scenes on stage isn't funny, and is markedly less inspired than the Portland/indie bashing of early live version. He may have had some explaining to do, but he should have stuck with it. Musically, it's perfect, but special mention to the solo – Stephen doing an almost Robbie Robertson-sounding dance and Mike responding with Garth Hudson organ swells. When the organ doubles the melody the second time the play the coda, that's heaven.
'Shibboleth' is a monster. Tells you everything the Pixies reunion could've been. Hell, it's everything the Pixies could've been the first time around. Also reminiscent of early to mid-Pavement classics ('Circa 1762' for one). And tell me the noise at the beginning of the verses isn't an update of 'Stereo'! I'd have made it the single, so of course they didn't. It's no coincidence the scream in the left speaker at the beginning of verse two might as well be sampled from 'Half a canyon'. Tremendous.
'J Smoov' is my favorite song on this album, and I wouldn't hesitate to say it's the best song on the , last three albums. An epic ballad which doesn't need many words to communicate transcendental truth about human desire. Maybe that's why it only needs one verse. 'At this point darling, I must say / that the seeds unsown gonna grow anyway / mmm rent a room / get it over with' resonate with me especially. There's a sultry, southern, luxurious and smooth side to it, say Al Green or 'Let's get it on' – which I know, sounds like the worst possible idea on paper but it works like few other songs. Likewise the soundscape is so deep, what a production. Is that the flute appearing right at the coda – just for one note? Is the cello on this track too? I can't tell, but it could be. On stage Stephen always -without exception- plays this song with great respect. He's finally found a song not even he can deny.
Side B... well, it's not side A. I'm growing into it, but for a while it struck me most as the side that has the songs that didn't fit on side A. A mess of great songs which somehow didn't translate to the best of their potential in the studio, and some filler tracks.
'Rumble at the rainbo' has the disadvantage of being the first song on the records that's not at least as good as the song before it. It's quite a long way down from 'J Smoov''s magnificence to 'this one's for you, grandad'. On the other hand, every fun record deserves a 'Troubbble', an 'Octopus's garden'. If you're looking for traces of the Pavement reunion, I think Stephen spells it out on this song. It's quite ok for what it is – a palette cleanser –, but that second chorus 'no one here has change and not one ever will' goes on way too long (yes, I get the joke). I do appreciate the 'fruity' keyboards Mike smuggles into it. They seem so out of place. It's this sort of thing he didn't get to do in the Janet Weiss-years. I just hope he gets a better song for it the next record.
'Chartjunk' at least pulls side B straight – they're still in business. An undeniable riff, great pop song. I love the thick percussion at the bottom of this production. The horns are an interesting idea, but to me, they don't come off. I don't know if it's the German, un-swinging feel to them or if it's just that they drive out any impact the distorting guitar might have. It's a great song, but it loses a little of its grit in this version, and I think it needs that. There's at least one radio session version which edges it for me.
When it first appeared in the live shows, I immediately took 'Independence street' to heart. I still think those fall 2011 performances are mgical, decay has rarely sounded so touching. I don't know why it doesn't translate to the studio version (well, not completely). On the record what strikes me is how flat the song is – riff, verse, riff, verse, solo, verse one repeat. Its dynamic range never alters. It just keeps running at the same level of intensity – flat. It may be the vocal – here he seems not so much resigned to decay, he seems beyond caring. Maybe fitting for a song about decay to have a built-in expiration date. This song shone brightly but briefly.
At this point the record starts flowing over me. 'Scattegories' is a fun, gutsy, just short enough b-side. 'Cinnamon & lesbians' is the by-now obligatory quirky single I don't like (I expect no less!), though it has a marvelous solo. I tune in again for the finale of 'Surreal teenagers' – a classic Jicks song and one I really want to catch live at some point. I may have mentioned before that my yardstick for this song is the 2011 Fallon show performance, which is perfect to my ears. I may also have mentioned I think singing on the long introduction part of the song is a mistake, but I can live with it. I enjoy this version very much, but it's kind of a neutered version. Once again the lyrical refinement sounds more like second guessing than improvement to me.
Compare the Fallon show lyrics to the album lyrics. I can't fully decipher the Fallon lyrics -it's an early work-in-progress sketch.
Verse one:
If you choose to copulate with your 666
with Judy and Jacky microscopic pricks (?)
With your rotten toothbrush breath, makes me lose control
I miss Lotte and Sonya _____ morose
Becomes:
I got a carbon _______ you've seen your carbon blank
and it's duly noted that you can't wear black
If you choose to copulate you better get home fast
with Jacky and Gina, the micropscopic world
The splendid second verse of the Fallow show version:
I went caroling with my family, they were quite untuned
The microtones were dripping, dripping through the pantaloon
I like to live in Micronesia with my servant John
he's got the drumstick blues equations on his arm(?farm?)
finally ends up:
Let's reconnoiter in St Moritz near the widow's peak
the raclette is so splendid the _____steep
I like to live in Micronesia with my manservant John
John is ever so loyal, he's pugnacious in that regard
I know which version makes me laugh. The studio version in comparison is a series of set ups without a punchline.
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All of this may change over time. I welcome it. As of now, my reservations aside, I'm fully happy with the new missive from the Jicks and I play it every chance I get. I sure hope some of the developments on this album are further incorporated in the next chapter.
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