WZBC recommends former Pavement lead singer

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks just released an album, which is a fairly special thing. You may not know who Stephen Malkmus is ... no problem. He was the lead singer/songwriter of lo-fi '90s rock legends Pavement. To indie music fans, this makes Malkmus the rough equivalent of, in Catholic terms, Jesus. Not more popular than Jesus, John Lennon reserved that distinction for the Beatles, just the rough equivalent. Anyway, the members of Pavement went their separate ways following 1999's Terror Twilight, and Malkmus' proceeded to set out on a solo career.

Malkmus' first album, 2001's self-titled Stephen Malkmus, received mixed reviews. A lot of critics complained that Malkmus and his band, the Jicks (for the curious; the band's Web site asserts that a Jick is "J from Jagger plus Mick minus M"), just weren't as mind-bendingly cohesive as Pavement had been.

Now, two years later, Malkmus and the Jicks have a new album, Pig Lib, and time has served the band well.

Pig Lib's lyrics are brilliant. Rather than attempt to tell stories or assert opinions, Malkmus always attempts to create a scenario, and then simply leave it. Half-serious, half-humorous, and always opaque, Malkmus likes to make listeners to draw their own conclusions about what a song means. As a result, Pig Lib's rare blend of depth and ambiguity make it infinitely interpretable.

Another plus is that Malkmus' voice is as disarmingly fascinating as ever. His vocal technique blurs singing and talking, and he never gives into the temptation to rush. It's a captivating style that somehow manages to be soothing yet energizing.

But the greatest thing about Pig Lib is what the band has done with the album musically. Instruments often appear totally ignorant of one another's prescience. Scribbling guitar solos stagger their way around nomadic bass and drumming. Gunshot echoes of distortion resonate from emptiness and shifts in tempo arise from nonexistence.

The whole thing should be a mess. But somehow, the Jicks meld all these contradictions into a lucid and mesmerizing sound. It's like being carried along in the center of a twister, or swimming through a Jackson Pollock painting. And in a world of formulated music, where Creed can rip off Pearl Jam, add some Christianity and sell a million records or Avril Lavigne can sing pop songs in thrift store clothing and call herself punk, that's a rare thing friend. You should buy this album and savor it.

John Sobolewski is a guest columnist and a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. His radio show airs weekly on WZBC 90.3 on Saturdays from 2-5 a.m.