When I found I had a copy of the new STEPHEN MALKMUS album I was looking forward to hearing what he was up to post-Pavement as I only really knew him from his old band and had not heard any of the solo stuff. Well I have to say that if this is what they generally sound like then I'm glad I missed out up to now.
It did improve on the second listen as I think I got a bit more used to it, but for a good part of both listens it just ended up as background and not very good background music. Indeed, the first song to grab me was Senator, the third song of the album, which has amusing lyrics about the senator smoking weed and a chorus about how everybody wants a blow job which kind of threw me off as the only lyrics to really stick in my head from the entire album.
As it went on, I kept thinking it sounded like Indie Landfill's lounge section as I kept wondering where the inventiveness of Pavement had gone. Spazz fails to sound at all Spazzy but it does sound as Pavement-y as the album gets before it goes back to plodding along until Tune Grief,the only angry song on the album and it may have been the basis of the argument that made Janet Weiss leave her drum stool and walk before the tour. It's by far the stand out tune on the album and the only one I want to hear again.
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After that it's back to the totally forgettable landfill for the last 4 songs. Overall this album sounds like you either need to be on tranquilizers to have made it or listen to it as it was really far too bland for my ears. Ho hum.
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