Despite its' worrying working title of "Swedish Reggae",STEPHEN MALKMUS' self-titled debut solo LP ultimately settled for what the ex-PAVEMENT leder does best: gorgeous guitar melodies shackled to that special skewiff pop touch, ending up as a refinement of the sound PAVEMENT have been defining as their own for years.
Admittedly the humour was maybe a little more linear in places, like on the terrific, riffy tale of Mediterranean pirates that is "The Hook", but the memorable singles "Jo-Jo's Jacket" (Malkmus struck down with Yul Brunner-induced schizophrenia) and the equally bizarre but loveable "Jenny And The Ess Dog" made his usual case for superior, slightly angular guitar pop when all around seemed to be yelling about the "death of indie." Hmm.
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Of course, there were still a few moments of time-wasting (notably "Vague Space" and "Deado"), but most of "Stephen Malkmus" is infinitely sublime, and none more so than when he throws the usual challenging curve or two and we get songs like the mysterious, Eastern-tinged "Black Book" or the magnificent (and wilfully funny!) "Pink India", where Mr.M harks back to Colonial days for inspiration. I shit you not!
In a year full of competition from his DOMINO labelmates (HOOD, CLEARLAKE, the ELLIOTT SMITH re-issues etc),Stephen Malkmus is still capable of signficant strides. Go follow.
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