Stephen Malkmus - FaceThe Truth

Thu 26th May, 2005 in Music Reviews

When you’ve nothing left to prove things can get wet. Sonically this can translate as the limpid sound of cash rolling into an artists account, tarnishing former glory. Alternatively, and rarely, an act can take the acceptance of their history and from it gain the confidence to swing again like they did at the beginning of their career, when their cocksure swagger drew you in. Thankfully, after two well-intentioned but somewhat unsatisfying solo sets, Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus has cast off whatever tension that underscored Pavement’s finale – 1999’s Terror Twilight), 2001’s self titled solo debut, and 2003’s Pig Lib. So much so that Face The Truth sounds like a whole new beginning. Not that it’s a relaxed long player – it’s primary nature is magnificently schizoid. The word best describing it is ‘freed’, or ‘commando’. 11 tracks unrestrained by poorly fitted pants.

Malkmus has always been the kind of band leader who could care less whether he had a band or not- the disdain shown for his Pavement colleagues as the band imploded in 1999 has become as legendary as Black Francis fax-dismissal of the Pixies (more of whom later…), and while the Jicks appear on this as guests, it is the first truly solo SM album.

Does this inform the sound? Not really. We have synthesizers, programmed beats and vocoder action for the first time, but it’s all an extension of the template set in 1995’s Wowee Zowee and not really touched on since; a manic mood shifting collection that only hangs together by the threads of it’s makers vision, not in any coherent song or structural sense. In short, it’s genuinely odd, like Syd Barrett or Captain Beefheart’s excursions into the inner freak, but it’s cogent, sane. Like it’s maker is finally getting a handle on his place in the world, or if not then accepting his lack of a grip. What does this really mean for you? A multitextured listening experience. Or a great record. Simple.

Opener Pencil Rot hangs with I’ve Hardly Been and Kindling For the Master in the electrified camp, strange yet compelling slabs of new song craft and occasionally lucid lyrics joined in the lucidity ranks by the glorious It Kills
 
“9 times outta 10 I’m not the guidance type
I been sitting on a fencepost for the brunt of my life
and now I need some help to find out what I feel again”

Loud Cloud Crowd and Mama are sly beauties, simple-seeming but layered and one expects long-lasting, and Baby C’mon is the closest thing he’s written to a soundtrack for the summer since Gold Soundz. And Malediction? The perfect closer.

Now everyone’s talking reunion tours, and Dinosaur Jnr and Slint are two acts that have recently taken the Pixies cue, much to the satisfaction of their aging audiences, but arguably the most exciting prospect is that of a Pavement tour. In terms of a ‘90s revival Nirvana made the biggest noise, Beck the best attempt at reading the times and making a Bowie esque stab at nailing them, but Pavement’s five album career best sums that decade; a careless languor, simultaneously precious and throwaway, with a dark throb underneath it’s surface that would manifest itself in the early years of the new decade. Each member could make a pile of cash and walk away with their credibility intact. But Malkmus recently said that they shouldn’t do it for 10 more years ‘til Pavement fans kids are in high school, making it easier to come to the shows. The subtext there is, he has no problem with his past, but he’s got some new jams to offer in the meantime. And when they’re this good, we can wait.