Actual Trash Included.
You’d be forgiven for thinking Stephen Malkmus had given up on writing tunes and embraced the self-indulgent trappings that come with solo careers. Face The Truth was a complete mess of never ending guitar solos and songs that started off seeming like they’d be good before they veered off on long spaced out tangents. Even if you were the biggest Pavement fan in the world, you couldn’t deny that the album was probably the least played in your collection (unless you’re one of those snobby music writers who pick the most obscure stuff in favour of the obvious just to look cool. In that case, you also sleep alone at night).
Bolstered again by his backing band The Jicks, now with Janet Weiss (ex-Sleater Kinney) on drums, Malkmus seems to be making a genuine effort to control the tedious wig-outs and produce something that people other than die-hard fans will buy.
Let’s be honest here, Real Emotional Trash is hardly original. As soon as the stoner sound of Dragonfly Pie stumbles out of the speakers, you’re already trying to pinpoint who it sounds like (QOTSA comes to mind at every turn). It’s only when Malkmus’ trademark slacker delivery unapologetically makes an appearance, do you realise who it’s supposed to be. Soon enough, the sudden off-kilter breaks pop in to break up the purposefully long chugging riffs. It’s basically like this all the way through; down tuned verse, vague chorus, weird break and a really long solo. Part of Malkmus’ charm is the way he plays on words, making vivid imagery with an unlikely combination of phrases and doing it like it’s all on the fly (well one or two takes actually). But here it’s not even enough to divert you from moments of monotony. We’re talking the Antony Kiedis School of Rhyming here. It’s that bad.
It’s not all bad though; after all it’s definitely a return to form after one half decent album and one awful album. Real Emotional Trash definitely goes some way towards rectifying past mistakes and shares a lot in common with the equally sinister Pig Lib. Ultimately; it’s the sound of an originator out of the loop, but still in tune with melodies. But didn’t he know that QOTSA released the same album last year? You can’t blame fatherhood for not knowing that, Steve.