Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks

If you’re still stuck on Pavement, know this: (1) we get it, but (2) Malkmus has played with the Jicks (in one lineup or another) way longer than he played with his old band, and (3) he’s still one of the most entrancing, inventive, idiosyncratic songwriters on the planet. The new record, Sparkle Hard, has everything you want from this man: crooked guitars, sudden shifts in tempo, bored-but-excitable vocals and lyrics that defy rational interpretation.