It’s The Old Fruit That Makes Wine

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks @ Irving Plaza 6/7/2005
Mama / Pencil Rot / Water and a Seat / Loud Cloud Crowd / No More Shoes / Dynamic Calories / I’ve Hardly Been / Freeze the Saints / Dark Wave / It Kills / Jenny and the Ess Dog / Grace / Baby C’mon / Carl the Clod // Malediction / (John Moen sings some song, I have no idea)

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks “Grace (Live @ Sonic Boom, 5/24/2005)” – Though I suspect my feelings have something to with not having seen him play since 2003 (absence makes the heart grow fonder, etc), I’m reasonably certain that this was the best show I’ve ever seen SM play with the Jicks. A lot of it had to do with the band seeming more confident in their identity than ever before, and playing to their strengths (chops, improvisation, sardonic banter) rather than keeping it loose and goofy like Pavement. John Moen was particularly great, providing crisp, powerful drumming that energized the songs and sparked some impressive improvised jams in “No More Shoes,” “It Kills,” and “Carl the Clod.” The guy did amazing work with the songs from Face The Truth, adding fills to “Pencil Rot” and “Baby C’mon” that made the album versions seem static in comparison, and a brisk dynamic shift from verse to chorus in “Loud Cloud Crowd” that would have made the song an obvious single if it had been recorded that way. Despite his MVP status during the rest of the gig, the show’s only misstep was when Moen switched to guitar and vocals for the final song of the night. It’s not the first time I’ve seen him do this at a Jicks show, but in this particular set it was a terrible anticlimax, and would have come off a lot better if it had been anything other than the finale.

Stephen Malkmus “Carl the Clod (Live @ Buenos Aires 10/23/2004)” – One of the show’s obvious highlights was the inclusion of a full band version of “Carl the Clod,” a lovely little song that was written for Face The Truth but was not finished in time for its release and will likely turn up on the next album. (Ditto for “Grace,” by the way.) The song is considerably perkier in the band arrangement, and sounds almost like Thin Lizzy towards the end before the outro jam kicks in. (You can’t buy copies of either of these songs, but you can download different recordings of them and other rare Malkmus goodies here.)

PS: Stephen wore a grey t-shirt with the word ‘Malktastic’ on the back.