Stephen Malkmus

January 7 marks the release of the new Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks album, Wig Out At Jagbags, their first since 2011's Mirror Traffic.

Malkmus sez: "Wig Out At Jagbags is inspired by Cologne, Germany, Mark Von Schlegell, Rosemarie Trockel, Von Spar and Jan Lankisch, Can and Gas; Stephen-Malkmus-imagined Weezer/Chili Peppers, Sic Alps, UVA in the late 80's, NYRB, Aroma Charlottenburg, inactivity, Jamming, Indie guys trying to sound Memphis, Flipper, Pete Townshend, Pavement, The Joggers, The NBA and home life in the 2010's ..."

the title.

new album called Wig Out at Jagbags. Jagbag is a great word. A smeared aspersion, not profanity, but derived from one.. watered down for the airwaves, or the assembly line. To Wig out--we've all been there. We ARE there, at least i Am.

And the "I" on a record is speaking for/as/to you, so If youre not wigging out, go no further, dear reader

(and then there is Dag Nasty, which I wont bother justifying , just a first flourish of the unstoppable need to name drop).

the album.

produced by the band and Remko Schouten, the Dutch soundman of Pavement fame, and owner of IJland studio in east Amsterdam.

I dont know where to start again. This record is inspired by Cologne Germany, Mark Von Schlegell, Rosemarie Trockel, Von Spar and Jan Lankisch, Can and Gas. Imagined Weezer/Chili Peppers, Sic Alps, UVA in the late 80's, NYRB, Aroma Charlottenburg, inactivity, Jamming, Indie guys trying to sound Memphis, Flipper, Pete Townshend, Pavement, the Joggers, The NBA, home life in the 2010's

We (Remko) found a studio over in the Ardennes with a" farmhouse vibe". It was isolated, rural Belgium near Luxembourg, the cradle of morbid Tax relief. It went very well cuz the band is quite good.We were (are?) pretty psyched with results.

Ive spent the last couple years in Berlin. Berlin, while very hip and in some ways the "center" of Europe, is still isolated. At least if you are an American Dad. Pretty amazing place as you probably already know, and so easy to disappear into. Perhaps any " big" city has this quality-- but a New one (to me), where they speak German(mostly).well, you can almost cease to exist. Which is of course a liberating fantasy.

But after two years there, we were Starting to Exist. It was like an average birth, without pain. I worked the lyrics/chords out on a computer on someone else's table in someone else's apartment. And This is what you get: Projected Imaginings of ROck and ROll from the freezing north, rendered by West Coast stalwarts and a Dutch Uncle.

And we feel compelled to share it with you.

-- SM (& Jicks)