Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks: 15/16 - 2001

15

2001/07/13, Sydney
Jennifer and the Ess-dog
Discretion grove
Sheets
Phantasies
Vague space
JoJo's jacket
Fly
Church on white
The hook
Dark wave (instr.)
Pink India
Tale in hard time
Dynamic calories
(Do not feed the) Oyster
Trojan curfew
Troubbble
Simple man

'Make me sound like Hendrix – shouldn't be too hard.'

'The ears are not a fucking toy!'

(On why he was talking shit about Australia, at the previous' night show in New Zealand) 'They've got this total recession going on – I had to do something to do make 'em feel better.'

'Thanks to the Academy for screwing up and giving Russell Crowe an Oscar.'

'This is what happens when you try and act spontaneous.'

'John Moen on drums – a wicked drummer, but only drummers care about that.'
John: 'Do you want to know what kind of cymbals I use?'

So many quotable lines – not enough is written about the stand-up comedy you can hear at some Jicks shows. When the mood is right and Stephen is in the zone, there's a lot of talking. Something I always look forward to, not just because I happen to dig the sense of humour (some of that stuff is golden to me!) but also because the looseness usually translates in animated and committed sets.

And so it is here. Right off the bat, Stephen answers an audience shout-out 'the fucking Jicks!' with 'That's right, we're the fucking Jicks, and I promise you we're gonna have a good time before the night is over.' Mission accomplished. I think even that guy that keeps shouting out for 'Gold soundz' must've had a good time. (Stephen: 'We're doing an all-Pavement show on our second night. Mark that in your calendar... I'm kidding... Or am I?') The first half of the set is relentless undeniable pop (just look at those songs). The second half (after the pee break – literally) is deeper, with jams, covers and new tracks. And finally everybody joins together in a totally committed version of Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Simple man'.

This is another show I've played a lot and I can heartily recommend. It's got the magic.
Some highlights for us Jicks trainspotters:

- First recorded version of 'Sheets': the song is mostly there, but played more aggressively than it turned out. This one sounds like Television with Richard Hell, the recorded version is more like 'Adventure' or Verlaine's first solo album. I dig both, but the quiet/loud interface in this version when they go in and out of that mysterious, quiet instrumental bridge is very effective.

- 'Church on white' – what a song. Now I want to discuss the solo part. Basically one of my favorite instrumental sections of all time. The construction of it is immaculate, like a perfect realisation of a classical ideal (but enough about Plato!). It's built up out of a series of consecutive melodic ideas, and in performance he can improvise within each section, so that even when he never plays any of the same notes, it's still recognizable as that solo, as moving through those same sections towards release. Sounds complicated, but it gives me goose bumps most every time. At this show he pulls out one of the all-time great solos, by just a small variation – hitting the distortion a couple of bars early and building to an even more intense climax than usual.

- A bass-led version of 'The hook'.

- After the band introduction, Stephen unexpectedly takes off to pee (I thought that only happened at Motley Crue shows!). Mike: 'Hi.' Audience: 'Play us a song.' And they break into a cool instrumental version of 'Dark wave'. When Stephen returns he breaks it up – that one wasn't ready for the public just yet! Sounds great to me, Stephen!

- 'Pink India': just a little less out-there than the Shepherd's Bush rendition, but following the same template, and I'm glad it exists.

- The best of the two versions I've heard of 'Tale in hard time'. Great piano by Mike.

- Fine early version of 'Oyster' and another early version of 'Dynamic calories' with the music in place but obviously made up of dummy-lyrics.

- 'Simple man': as is becoming clear, these American heartland covers aren't to be understood ironically (as detractors often do). Stephen obviously knows these songs and sings 'em straight. More like a previously unsuspected part of his musical bloodline. I mean, all those Fall and Echo & the Bunnymen red herrings in Pavement – that was always Spiral Stairs' musical taste. Stephen made them do Velvet Underground, Faust and CCR covers (alright, alright, and REM and Descendents). That obscure '70s classic/hard rock-line is in his DNA.

16
2001/07/18, Melbourne, Australia
Shake it around
('Pig lib' bonus disc)

The excellent 'Pig lib' bonus disc closes off with this live track, which always sort of passes me by without leaving an impression. For the longest time I assumed it was a cover (like 'Poet and the witch') but it appears to be an original. On early live recordings the track was lodged as 'Thin Lizzy song' – the taper's invention or early setlist transcription? It's pretty accurate for that mid-70s transatlantic rawk-with-a-nod-to-Dylan thing.

I have no problem with the song though there isn't much more to it than the main riff. The chorus is a non-event, just a variation on the main riff. After two rounds it veers into a softer section, which sets up expectations that sadly remain unfulfilled – back to main riff and end. All in all, a bit of a pastiche, not enough of the Malkmus-DNA in there.

I get that it didn't make it to the studio, though why it ended up released instead of a number of unreleased better songs from the era, I don't know.