Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
Bridezilla
Dick Diver
Prince Bandroom, Melbourne
Wednesday 23rd September 2009

There were no Pavement songs or cameos from that band’s other former guitarist, the soon-to-be-Melbourne-based Spiral Stairs, when Stephen Malkmus and his backing outfit The Jicks came to St. Kilda. Despite the music world buzzing with the fresh news of a Pavement reunion next year, the slacker guitar god and his hard-trucking quartet kept the focus squarely on the four sprawling albums he’s released this decade.

Preceding him first were Melbourne’s four-piece Dick Diver, whose polite indie pop and two singer/guitarists recalled The Go-Betweens, albeit spiked with the occasional leaping guitar solo or gust of noise. The band utilized slide guitar on a song about an aging punter lounging poolside, and previewed an upcoming 7-inch on Chapter Music.

Next were Sydney’s Bridezilla, Malkmus’s support on this quick Australian tour. A mostly female five-piece, the band features drums, two guitars, violin, and saxophone, yielding sharp, dueling textures and a whirlwind atmosphere against the low murmurs of singer/guitarist Holiday Sidewinder. It was a busy, excited set with shades of classical and post-rock, and the violinist was especially active, gamely finger-picking at one point. Included was ‘Forth And Fine’, Bridezilla’s contribution to a split 7-inch with The Tren Brothers (two-thirds of The Dirty Three). The band seemed like an odd fit for this tour, but their originality was undeniable.

“We’re The Jicks,” announced Malkmus as he, guitarist/keyboardist Mike Clark, bassist Joanna Bolme, and drummer Janet Weiss (of Quasi and formerly Sleater-Kinney) jumped into ‘Dragonfly Pie’, the first song on last year’s Real Emotional Trash. Opening with a mention of “all my stoned digressions”, Malkmus foreshadowed the sinister jamming and abstract shards of lyrics that dominated the band’s 90-minute set. Leaning heavily on Trash and the similarly winding roads of 2003’s Pig Lib, the band mostly took their sweet time, though succinct pop nuggets like ‘It Kills’ (from 2005’s Face The Truth) and the Yul Brynner-inspired ‘Jo Jo’s Jacket’ (from 2001’s self-titled debut) also surfaced.

After a promising new tune about a senator’s burning desire for a blowjob came five songs off Trash: ‘Out Of Reaches’, ‘Hopscotch Willy’, ‘Cold Son’, and ‘Elmo Delmo’. In between, Bolme cited Peter Weir’s film The Last Wave and said, “Our lungs are filled with red Canberra dust,” referencing Sydney’s freakish haze yesterday. Malkmus even practiced his Aussie accent by saying “Spiderbait” a few times. Closing with the Pig Lib-era ‘Dynamic Calories’ and ‘(Do Not Feed The) Oyster’, the band departed for a few minutes before bestowing the bonus of an encore. There was Pig Lib’s ‘Us’, the mighty Face The Truth single ‘Baby C’mon’, and the older ‘Church On White’, a ballad flecked with glistening guitar.

Capping the epic night with a fast, crunchy punch, the band ripped through a cover of Mungo Jerry’s irrepressible ‘Alright Alright Alright’. It wasn’t Pavement, but it was a damn fun finish to a gig that revisited the prodigious, nonchalant greatness Malkmus is famous for, as well as the slapdash distractions along the way.

Doug Wallen