Another album from the Jicks that comes with Stephen Malkmus’s calculated verbosity, curiously radio friendly songs and - thanks to last year’s reunion tour - people complaining that it is not a Pavement album. Whiners should be satiated, however. Mirror Traffic may well be the best Jicks, or even post-Pavement, album that Malkmus has made. It is unfair to mention Pavement prominently in regard to a Jicks album, but many of the songs have an unmistakable taint that is more distinct than on previous albums. ‘Asking Price’ is pretty much a rerun of Wowee Zowee outtake ‘Sensitive Euro Man’. ‘Long Hard Book’ is also in the vein of songs from Wowee Zowee - loose with slightly country-ish inflections, cruising to an abrupt end. It has a classic Malkmus chord progression coupled with cryptic, hyper-introspective lyrics. ‘Share the Red’ again starts closer to what you would expect from Pavement than the Jicks, invoking Terror Twilight but then redirecting into some noodling reminiscent of ‘One Percent of One’ from the Jicks’ Pig Lib.
Nevertheless it would be unfair to tarnish this effort as a rehash of the past. The Jicks have their own character independent of Pavement. For instance, the curiously ungrammatical ‘No One (Is As I Are Be)’ is a little like a Lou Reed solo album song, particularly the affected whisper/croon. It is one of the strongest Jicks songs ever, despite the slightly cringeworthy line: “I can’t do a single sit-up, sit-ups are so bourgeoisie”. Single ‘Senator’ is a rare political songs focusing upon the veracious sexual conquests of the US government, with a vignette of almost getting caught with weed on a tour bus. It is likely inspired by the affair involving Republican Senator Anthony Weiner and his very public erect penis photo. Although it sounds a laboured juxtaposition, it is pulled off, even if the hoary old moral of elite hypocrisy vs. low-level criminality is a little hackneyed. If this is a little weighty for you there is also a fair quotient of more disposable and fun alternative pop. ‘Stick Figures in Love’ is the cheeriest song on the album with a buzzy new wave sound. It has some patented Malkmus lyrics that are cryptic to a cabalistic level. Similarly, ‘Tune Grief’ is an up-tempo throwaway C86 style song, with chiming distorted guitars. It is the most erratic and noisy Jicks song ever.
Although this album jarred with me to begin with - as the opening track sounded a little like Supertramp (I despise Supertramp) - and ‘Forever 28’ is a little twee for me, it’s on balance hard to dismiss the feeling that Malkmus’s time with Pavement has reinvigorated his song writing and has positively spurred on his fellow Jicks.