Stephen Malkmus helps Pavement's legacy continue to grow

No matter how many years go by since the demise of my third-favorite band of all time, Pavement's legend just keeps growing because leader Stephen Malkmus just keeps adding so much music to the catalog. (Much like how the combo of Velvet Undergound/Lou Reed maintains its place as my fifth-favorite ever.)

And that huge catalog translates to great shows every time I see Malkmus (like the last time in 2014 and, needless to say, the Pavement reunion show in 2010).

The latest, June 18 at Black Cat in D.C., was no different.

The show began with a great one-two punch of two of my favorite songs from the new album Sparkle Hard. "Cast Off" was the warm up for both the album and the show, followed by the hipster bike-lover showcase of "Bike Lane."

In fact, some of the strongest moments came courtesy of Sparkle Hard: "Solid Silk" is mesmerizingly beautiful. "Refute" is fun, corn-pone goodness (and includes Kim Gordon, formerly of Sonic Youth, on the record).

Two songs off 2005's Face the Truth were definite highlights. "Malediction" is an under-rated happy ditty and "Freeze the Saints" (with just singing and no guitar from Malk), would make any greatest hits collection should there ever be one for his post-Pavement material.

2011's Mirror Traffic also made an appearance with the mellow "No One Is (As I Are Be)" and the soaring "Stick Figures in Love." (Strangely, there were no songs from 2014's Wigout at Jagbags.)

"Dark Wave," although far from the best song on 2003's Pig Lib, was the weirdo tune needed for the middle of the set. The new "Future Suite" kept the loopiness going. Then "Shiggy," also off Sparkle Hard, brought the screamo Pavement-like rock.

The weakest moments of the show were "Brethren" off the new album (the representative of what now seems to be a requirement for every Malkmus album, the one song that sounds like a Grateful Dead outtake) and the new, droning and ProTools-y "Rattler." And I've never been all that crazy about "Baltimore," from 2008's Real Emotional Trash, but it definitely fit well as the guitar-jam for the end of the main set.

The encore couldn't have been more perfect. The best song on the latest release, "Middle America," led into Pavement classics "Shady Lane" and "In the Mouth a Desert" ("when you treat it like an oil well"), at which point Pablo and I got so excited in the 12th row or so that we spilled beer everywhere.

****1/2 out of ***** stars

Guided By Voices Relives Its 1990s Heyday

My second favorite rock band of all time rolled in to the Black Cat on Saturday night and proved that, even after all these years, they've still very much got it.

I was a little surprised to see so many young fans up front singing the words to all the new songs GBV played early in its two-plus-hour, 43-song set. As leader Robert Pollard said in his onslaught of comedic comments, "We have 72 albums." So it's not easy to know lyrics (and that doesn't include the dozens upon dozens of side projects for Pollard).

From the minute Rachel and I walked in the door (we later connected with Francis Chung, who took this iconic photo along with many others for DCist), there was a special buzz in the air. We saw old friends before moving up front to witness Obama Press Secretary and GBV mega-fan Jay Carney hanging around backstage. After a solid set from the majestic former GBV lead guitarist Doug Gillard's new band, Carney announced GBV, "one of the three best things ever to come out of Dayton, Ohio."

Pollard was in excellent spirits all night, even if he didn't seem to drink the fish tank of alcohol he has during the several dozen other times I've seen GBV in concert. Some of the feel of the show and his banter were captured nicely by Valerie Paschall of DCist:

A significant chunk of the set was comprised of their most recent release, Cool Planet, and Pollard delighted in pointing out that they were now touring off three albums: Cool Planet, Motivational Jumpsuit and classic album Bee Thousand which turns twenty this year. 

"We're not like the Rolling Stones," said Pollard. "We don't release one song every 15 years." 

Mick & Keith weren't the only target of Pollard's slurring vitriol and he also took stabs at Bruce Springsteen, ("If he's the Boss, I quit"), the record industry in general ("I don't want to make 6 percent!") and Radiohead. Also, unlike the stint in 2010, he let the audience finish off his handle of tequila, so his barbs were more discernible. 

Although the first hour of their set showed more audience enthusiasm during the Bee Thousand tracks—"Gold Star For Robot Boy" was an early spark plug — the show really took a turn when opening act and latter-era GBV guitarist Doug Gillard joined the band for "Teenage FBI." Even the rest of the band seemed to enjoy Gillard's presence onstage—guitarists Mitch Mitchell and Tobin Sprout played the song within two feet of each other and Mitchell gleefully mouthed along with the words despite the cigarette that did not leave his mouth.

The beer flew around over the crowd just like those amazing shows 20 years ago. The audience, including me, pogoed and moshed just like 20 years ago. Pollard and "the classic lineup" kicked around like the showmen they were 20 years ago. What was not to love?

***** out of ***** stars

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks Play Crisp Set on Crisp Night at Black Cat

This is a flat-out hilarious video interview I stumbled upon from a few years ago by a FOX News host who grovels at the godly feet of Stephen Malkmus. I don't know about reporting on reality, but there's no doubt FOX News knows how to entertain.

Segueing awkwardly from the video to another entertaining performance ... Malkmus and his band The Jicks played a crisp and rewarding set Friday night at Black Cat in Washington D.C. (Rachel, Peter, and Fran were also in attendance.) It was the first time I've seen him since the Pavement reunion shows in Central Park in 2010.

The Jicks were in fine form. Joanna Bolme floats on a cloud of bass, Jake Morris is a ball of energy on drums, and Mike Clark provides the Spiral Stairs-type backing foil to Malkmus' guitar-god heroics and light-hearted lyrics and banter.

One can never go wrong with one of his solo-career highlights "Jenny & the Ess-Dog" to begin the set. Some of his first horns ever, on "Chartjunk" from new album Wig Out at Jagbags, was one of the best of many played from the release.

Great tunes from 2011's Mirror Traffic dominated the mid-portion, including "Tigers," "No One Is (As I Are Be)," and "Senator," as did Jagbags killer tracks "Lariat" and "Cinnamon and Lesbians."

One complaint is that there could have been more than one song off Malkmus' perfect 2001 solo debut.

But there was no complaining on the encore. The band has apparently been playing different covers every night on tour, and our surprises were no let down on this night: the Velvet Underground's "Beginning to See the Light" and Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well."

Then came perhaps my favorite Pavement song off my favorite Pavement release: "Lions (Linden)" from the Watery Domestic EP (which Pavement unfortunately did not play at the reunion show I saw). The night ended with a surprise for diehards like myself: "From Now On" off obscure early Pavement release Westing (By Musket and Sextant).

****1/2 out of ***** stars

• 1. Jenny & The Ess-Dog 
  2. Rumble At The Rainbo 
  3. Chartjunk 
  4. No One Is (As I Are Be) 
  5. Tigers 
  6. J Smoov 
  7. Shibboleth 
  8. Senator 
  9. Cinnamon and Lesbians 
  10. The Janitor Revealed 
  11. Lariat 
  12. Animal Midnight 
  13. Asking Price 
  14. Stick Figures in Love 
  15. Independence Street 
  16. Baby C'mon 
  17. Encore:
  17. Houston Hades 
  18. Beginning to See the Light 
      (The Velvet Underground cover)
  19. Oh Well 
      (Fleetwood Mac cover)
  20. Lions (Linden) 
      (Pavement cover)
  21. From Now On 
      (Pavement cover)

The Sea and Cake Plays the Perfect Show

I've been a long-time, die-hard fan of Chicago jazz-pop masters The Sea and Cake since their earliest records in 1994-1995. But, somehow, I had never caught them live. And last night at D.C.'s Black Cat, the band didn't disappoint.

McEntire, Claridge, Prekop, and Prewitt

The four musicians look like average middle-aged guys, but when they started playing, they were the coolest and one of the most mesmerizing bands I've seen in a long time. The short video above of one of their classic tunes does a pretty good job of capturing some of their magic.

Sam Prekop leads the band with unusual guitar picking and strumming styles, and vocals that are gorgeous yet at the same time don't really matter much in relation to the rest of the powerful music being played. Archer Prewitt masterfully blends his wildly inventive lead guitar playing with Prekop's stylings.

Meanwhile, Eric Claridge muscles his bass into sounds that reach the most pleasurable expanses of the listener's brain and drummer John McEntire freaks out with his precise smashes and joyously weird facial expressions.

I love this band. And although I really couldn't tell you what the set list was, it just didn't matter. All the songs were so good that when they finally got around to playing "Parasol" from 1995's perfect album Nassau as the set-closer, it was simply icing on the cake to a perfect show.

***** out of ***** stars

Yuck Rocks. Black Cat Sound Guys Don't Rock.

Good friend Fran Chung wrote up the following review for the entertaining Yuck show the other night at the Black Cat in D.C. I'm just republishing his excellent take (which I completely agree with, and which appeared with this photo and others in DCist) rather than wallow through my own mixed emotions of seeing the show on the same night I got in my first car accident in decades (I'm fine, it wasn't my fault, and our Honda Fit didn't fare too badly). Despite that unfortunate distraction, I still give the show **** out of ***** stars. It was not as good as their recorded work, but I'm chalking that up mostly to the fact that the Black Cat sound engineers seem to be getting worse and worse every show I see there.

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The label "1990s revivalists" follows Yuck around inexorably, sometimes an epithet, often a term of endearment, always an apt descriptor for their retro-leaning indie-rock sound. At the Black Cat on Wednesday night, the London-based four-piece wore it as a badge of honor, putting their own youthful spin on familiar tropes from the 20th-century's musically fecund final decade.

On the set-opening "The Base of a Dream is Empty", the guitars of Daniel Blumberg and Max Bloom trailed feedback before the band built up a creamy wall of sound that instantly called My Bloody Valentine to mind. A few songs later, Blumberg affected a J Mascis-like drawl during "The Wall", while "Suicide Policeman" came off as a strummy, mid-tempo ballad reminiscent of early Belle & Sebastian, complete with tender boy-girl harmonies. Bassist Mariko Doi took a lead-vocal turn on the appropriately-titled "Georgia", which sounded like it could have been a lost outtake from one of Yo La Tengo's classic early-'90s albums.

At the heart of the set came "Get Away", Yuck's finest song, and the one that best crystallizes their highly referential, yet distinctly appealing musical aesthetic. Bloom's bright lead guitar melodies sliced through the fuzzed-out mix on top of a throbbing, Pixies-esque bassline that propelled the song forward until Blumberg launched it into the stratosphere with his soaringly anthemic Sparklehorse-meets-Weezer hook. "Summer sun says get out more," Blumberg sang, "I need you, I want you, but I can't get this feeling off my mind." These were trite, jejune sentiments that have been expressed in a thousand tunes, but rarely with as much infectious verve.

By the end of their brisk, hour-long performance, Yuck had run through much of their self-titled debut LP, adding the bonus cut "Soothe Me" and the B-side "Milkshake". As the band capped their set with another Kevin Shields homage, "Rubber", it seemed fair to wonder what the quartet could do for a second act. As fertile a trove of musical resources as the '90s are, surely they are not inexhaustible, and one hopes the band's next record will explore some different territories. For now, though, it's probably best to just go along and enjoy the nostalgic ride.

Lemonheads Return With a Glimpse into a 1992 Classic Album

Coming up on 20 years since the release of The Lemonheads' indie-pop 1992 classic, It's a Shame About Ray, it was moving to relive that year the other night at the Black Cat in D.C., with leader Evan Dando and his gang rollicking through a lengthy set with the full album serving as the first part of the evening.

Other than some sound problems for the first three or so songs, with Evan's guitar being too low in the mix, the music sounded great and Evan, who has had his ups and downs over the years, seemed to be in pretty good shape and form. (Apparently this wasn't the case two nights later in New York.)

Some people disagree that he was in fine form. And maybe I'm just too much of a sucker for the dozens of classic songs he and his three-piece band played. (Incidentally, the drummer and bassist were very strong and looked quite a bit like Ray-era bandmates David Ryan and Nic Dalton.) Still, I will admit that this band is by no means anywhere near the prime it was in throughout the early 90s. (I mean, check out this performance on Letterman. They could really throw down, and I even remember talking to Evan one time after a Soul Asylum/Lemonheads show at Mississippi Nights in St. Louis while he was wearing that ridiculous red jacket.)

I spoke with Evan briefly after Friday night's show and he was personable, in good spirits, remembered hanging out with me last year at Iota and letting me play his guitar, and spent some time seriously making out with one of his merch girls (while a line waited to buy shirts, open-mouthed and gawking). He also was very open to taking photos with his fans, as pictured here with some guy (and his favorite merch girl).

**** out of ***** stars