Stephen Malkmus 'Real Emotional Trash'

Back in 1994 my favourite three bands were Pavement, Tindersticks and Grant Lee Buffalo. Nothing lasts forever, Pavement and GLB both split five years later and Tindersticks are just returning after a four year hiatus with a modified line up. I've been disappointed with the solo careers of Stephen Malkmus and Grant Lee Phillips and I approached this, Malkmus' fourth post-Pavement LP, with some trepedation having bought it more out of a sense of duty than any genuine excitement.

'Real Emotional Trash' sees the return of Malkmus' backing band 'The Jicks' who were absent from 2005's dull 'Face The Truth'. This is a good thing and means this is Malkmus' first record to have a cohesive band sound since the days of Pavement. The sound is heavy on guitars with solos and jams dominating most of the songs but some interesting keyboard and drum parts feature too.

Malkmus sounds far more interested than he did on the previous two records, singing with real passion on the likes of 'Dragonfly Pie' and the superb closer 'Wicked Wanda'. The highlight though is undoubtably the ten minute title track. I have seen this described as overly long and boring. It isn't at all. Instead, it is a genuine epic, starting off slow and introspective and building into a stunning exploration of sound, melody and noise.

For the first time since his solo debut, Stephen Malkmus has produced an album that his both enjoyable and interesting to listen to and it improves with each listen as there are some strong melodies here underneath all of the guitar noise.

This album doesn't stop me wanting Pavement back but it is the best thing Malkmus has recorded since they split.
8.0