STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS

Mirror Traffic

[Matador]

If you’re wondering how much of an effect last year’s Pavement reunion had on singer and guitarist Stephen Malkmus’ ongoing solo career, the answer seems to be … well, some. The Beck-produced Mirror Traffic has a vaguely Pavement-ish anarchic feel and playful energy, veering from the punchy stop-start rhythm of the sarcastic political comment “Senator” to the languid “Long Hard Book.” Malkmus gets a little more expansive with the crumbly guitars and gleaming keyboards on “Brain Gallop” (one of the few tunes that stretches past five minutes), while “Spazz” is exactly what it sounds like, thanks to a jumble of knotty guitars and Malkmus’ yelping vocals. His lyrics are typically oblique, but Malkmus always sounds like he’s having fun—never more so than when the songs skirt the edge of chaos. It’s not the new Pavement album hardcore fans had hoped for, but Mirror Traffic is more than a mere consolation prize. –Eric R. Danton