3/25/08 Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks @ Mercy Lounge, Nashville, Tenn.

The crammed reunion of 90’s college-grads attending Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks at the Mercy Lounge Tuesday night convened less to celebrate Real Emotional Trash (their latest release), more in anticipation of songs by Pavement (Malkmus’ discontinued band) but ultimately to seek provocation from a guy who fudges the difference between truth and coolness.The crammed reunion of 90’s college-grads attending Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks at the Mercy Lounge Tuesday night convened less to celebrate Real Emotional Trash (their latest release), more in anticipation of songs by Pavement (Malkmus’ discontinued band) but ultimately to seek provocation from a guy who fudges the difference between truth and coolness. The irony of this tour is that to maintain his integrity as a contemporary songwriter, Malkmus has to disappoint the majority of his audience by refusing them Pavement songs, despite knowing that a couple hundred ticket holders drove some distance (in the face of working early Wednesday) to maybe hear “Cut Your Hair” or “Shady Lane;” which they did not.

What some admirers might effectually dub a gyp, Malkmus has been calling a jick since the new millennium. There are three Jicks (two dark-haired, riot grrrls and a guy who wore a shiny, silver jacket; all from Oregon). Rather than go truly solo, Stephen Malkmus embraces each of those three extra syllables on the ticket in concession of their talent and contribution. Their drummer, Janet Weiss, used to be in Sleater-Kinney and modestly anchored the songs with unfeminine cadence. Keyboardist and guitarist Mike Clark – who donned the aforementioned silver jacket – dutifully crafted weird sounds as the bassist, Joanna Bolme, cooperated contentedly, rarely losing her half-smile.

Malkmus married long and methodical riffs with experimentation and fuzziness. Like contemporary Jeff Tweedy on the recent Wilco album, A Ghost is Born, Malkmus’ new hubris is the guitar solo, and on Trash, Malkmus noodles uninhibitedly. Taking equal parts from Jerry Garcia’s not-all-who-are-wandering-are-lost ethos and Hendrix’s penchant for luminosity, a modern Malkmus song can have you swearing you’ve heard it before only to realize that you had, when the chorus was being played for the first time and then a second time, respectively seven and three minutes ago.

Like many Pavement songs, a handful of current SM&J songs also possess a morose tone. “Out of Reaches” is made of signature Pavement fabric: Malkmus simultaneously plays the same notes he sings. In this case two notes: the first slightly higher than the second, creating a downcast feeling. A solo ensues – lots of solos ensued Tuesday night – and Malkmus played mostly like a non-cheesey virtuoso.

Never were Pavement tunes played Tuesday night, although they were mildly reincarnated in SM&J’s new material, and the eagerness for old numbers generally morphed into an ardent enthusiasm for the guitar hero of present. Pavement devotees were jicked out of their nostalgia Tuesday night, for worse and for better.