Stephen Malkmus Has a New Album

Sadly, I came of age in an era after Pavement-mania ravaged the country during the mid-90s. I was still perfecting my fine motor skills when Malkmus and the boys released their second album, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, in 1994. What I am old enough to fully appreciate, is Malkmus's post-Pavement project, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks.

I know, I know, Pavement reunited in '09. I went to two of their shows last September and they are and probably always will be tied for the best thing I've ever seen. But being able to watch Malkmus focus his godlike musical talents on a project specific to my generation is something entirely different.

Mirror Traffic, The Jicks's fifth album, will see daylight on the 23rd of August. I called up the main Jick man to talk about the new album, blowjobs, and blogs.

VICE: Hi Stephen! Nice to meet you.
Stephen: Nice to meet you, too.

This is a New York number. Are you in New York right now?
No. I got my phone there when I used to live there.

You used to live in Williamsburg, right?
I lived there, yup. It was like 1991. There wasn’t really any place to eat except for Polish places.

They’re still around. You live in Portland, Oregon now, right?
Yeah… [grunts] Sorry, this trampoline leaked rain on my butt.

It sure is rainy in Portland. Do you think it's as cool as people make it out to be?
I don’t know. I’m a little old to tell. I don’t like to be ageist against myself, but I don’t really know what’s cool right now.

Well then let’s talk about your new album, Mirror Traffic. I gave it a few good listens. I also received threats along with my advanced copy that mean UK lawyers would come after me if I shared the album.
That’s a good idea. I have lawyers from England? I like that.

Yeah. I swore not to share it. It was hard for me to get through the album, actually, because I liked the first song, “Tigers,” so much that I just hit replay over and over again.
Yeah, that’s a sunny number. It’s not a challenging song—not that listening to this album is like a calculus test or anything—but we definitely wanted to start with something easy and fun.

Yeah, I listened to it about 30 times before I moved on to the rest of the album. Then it was smooth sailing.
That’s a good sign! It’s a pretty song and Janet Weiss, our old drummer, did backing vocals on it.

How do you feel about the album? Do you like the final product?
Yeah. I mean, if I were to say no… We put a lot of work into it. Luckily, I do like it. It came out good and we had a good time. The whole process had a Californian mellow vibe to it. I need to listen to it again to figure out what it’s all about.

I read one of your blog posts. Was L.A. Guns a serious consideration for the album title?
Instead of just making a clever or beautiful title, we were trying to make an unexpected title. I also like that specific band name. It’s not like we named our album Faster Pussycat or Mötley Crüe. L.A. Guns were a hair metal band from the 80s and they were a bit silly. We were gonna use their name and create a sort of riff like:

“Do you like L.A. Guns?”

“No.”

“No, no, I mean Stephen Malkmus’ new album.”

“Senator” was the first single off your new album and the lyrics go something like, “What the senator wants is a blowjob.” Was there a certain someone you had in mind when you wrote that?
Not really. Senators are people too, and I’m sure 90 percent of them want blowjobs and like them. So I was just stating a fact. And a female blowjob is just going down on a girl. I didn’t have a particular senator in mind.

Maybe this country would be a better place if everyone were getting blowjobs.
Yeah! I hope everyone is getting blowjobs except for people who don’t want them.

And because that song is obviously not FCC-friendly, you’re holding a contest for fans to replace the word “blowjob.”
Yes, yes we are.

I submitted my own, actually.
Oh, what did you say?

I said, “What the senator wants is a knob gob.”
You've got a chance with that!

Really? Well, I guess “knob gob” is a euphemism, but not even. It sounds worse than “blowjob.”
Yeah, it’s British. I think you’re gonna get in trouble with those mean UK lawyers again.

I hope not. Did you read the other submissions?
Not yet. I’m going to wait until they’re done and then I’ll vote. My mom did one though. She submitted “nose job,” which is very practical. We’re not even talking about the fact that the song says blowjob, she’s just putting in her vote.

I read a few weird ones. Like, I saw “hooded leprechaun” in there.
Too wordy!

Do your daughters listen to such profanity?
No, they’re three and six years old. They don’t know about that song yet. They’ve heard a couple of songs that they like, though. They like “Stick Figures In Love” from the new album, and they like that Pavement song “Unfair,” the one that goes like, “Walk with your credit card in the air!” They like that one a lot. They don’t need more than that. They’re ready for the one song revolution, thanks to the internet.

Speaking of the internet, in “Cut Your Hair” you sing about “bands starting up each and every day. [You] saw another one just the other day.” It’s funny you wrote that in the 90s because it wasn't half as bad then as it is now with the internet and blogging and whatnot.
I know!

It seems like everyone in Brooklyn is in a band… or five.
Yeah, I can’t even imagine what it’s like. I always thought it was good to be in a band at some point in your life, but I was thinking in high school, to keep kids off the street so they can use their energy in a creative way instead of doing crystal meth or whatever. But there are so many bands now. I guess it speaks to how much we love music. And then there are these myths about how great it is to be in a band. Well, not myths, because they do come true, sometimes. When I did it I was like, “I can travel, drink free beer, girls will like me more, and I don’t have to get a real job!”

Is it better or worse for you to promote a new album in this environment versus how you did it with Pavement in the 90s?
I can’t complain because it’s nice to feel relevant. I’m trying to imagine what it was like back then… hmm. I’m sure it was nice to be considered a marquee artist in the 70s because you got full attention and you could do whatever. Especially if you were like Neil Young or Bob Dylan.

What's going on with Pavement? I was at two of your reunion shows back in September, by the way.
That was a lot of fun! But there’s not much going on these days. There’s a reissue or something coming out. Also, Mark moved.

We ran an interview with Mark Ibold and Bob Nastanovich in our 1994 Issue two years ago. We mentioned you in passing, referring to you as a “dreamboat.” Would you say that’s an accurate description of yourself?
Well, not anymore. I took some good pictures back in the day, but I never cashed in on my dreamboat looks. Not enough people told me I was one when I could’ve used it to my advantage.

That's a shame. You could have been a model.
Yeah, or something… I could have dated a famous person or whatever you’re supposed to do as a dreamboat.

Was 28 your peak age? I ask because of your song “Forever 28.”
Right. That was actually a secret bad time. It was a time of false bravado. That was 17 years ago, so I don’t really remember much. How old are you, around 28?

I’m in my early 20s.
OK, that’s fucking great. Well, you have that to look forward to. I hope you don’t feel offended that I thought you were older. That’s actually an honor, when women have smoky voices or something, men think that’s sexy.

I’m glad I sound older, then. What do you do when you’re not working on music?
I’m into sports. I play with my kids and cook food. It’s pretty boring. It’s a suburban lifestyle. Sometimes I go to the coffee shop and read the paper and eat some fancy pastry.

Sounds like a nice life.

KRISTEN YOONSOO KIM

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks will be touring throughout September and October. Official tour dates here.