Stephen Malkmus will never make the solo album that you want him to, but — if you can get past the pervasive silliness — Wig Out At Jagbags has its own quiet appeal. Gone is the pointed apoliticism of his ’90s heyday — his music has since been characterized by a knee-jerk flippancy that ends up feeling frustratingly inconsequential. Between no-shit syllogisms (“you’re not what you aren’t, you aren’t what you’re not”) and inane imagery (lotion deficits, surreal teenagers), Malkmus seems just as unconcerned about making statements, as he did a decade ago.
Yet, it’s impossible for Malkmus to shirk melody for an entire album, with “Lariat” and a few moments of “Surreal Teenagers” attesting to the power of his one-liners. Still, after a year of superb albums by other career artists, woaj underwhelms.
