Concert Review: Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Blitzen Trapper

Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, with Blitzen Trapper

Liberty Hall

By RICHARD GINTOWT

The last time I saw Stephen Malkmus at Liberty Hall, he was drunk as a skunk. I vaguely remember him coming out before the show and rolling around on the stage while singing “tiptoe through the tulips.” For a brief moment I wondered if the show would even happen, but – in true Pavement style – the band went on to rip shit despite being rather ripped.

Nearly a decade later, Malkmus has sobered up (a little) and assembled a band that’s at least as good as Spiral Stairs and company. New drummer Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney, Quasi) provides a strong backbone for Real Emotional Trash, the fourth solo release from the former Pavement frontman. If you can’t crank “Hopscotch Willie” and “Dragonfly Pie” in your ’68 Camaro, you should probably be listening to ZZ Top anyways.

First, though, there’s the matter of opener Blitzen Trapper – a Portland band that seemed to seize the indie slacker-rock throne on its 2007 release Wild Mountain Nation. I don’t know about y’all, but I heard “Futures & Folly” as the best Pavement song since “Carrot Rope.” Blitzen Trapper’s new album, Furr, proved they were far more than a Pavement knock-off, and it’s also proven to be one of my favorite records of 2008. If anything, these guys are the next of kin to Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead.