album thoughts

[pabost]

Just wanted to post a thread where everyone can express their thoughts on the new Jicks record. So far, I'm digging it.

Favorite tracks:
(Do not feed the) oyster
Water and a Seat

Least favorite track:
Vanessa from Queens

Also, the e.p. is great. "Fractions and Feelings" seems like a song you should play when flipping through an old yearbook.

[Dayne1234]

I can't believe how bad this album is. The material is very sub-par for Stephen Malkmus. I thought there would at least be a few stellar songs, but they just don't exist. I took one full listen and that was enough. His first solo album was so much better and neither of the two can touch anything Pavement did. I thought when this album came out it would be one of the years finest. Nada. So far, the best album I have heard this year is "You Are Free" by Cat Power. Truly brilliant to say the least and Chan's best material to date. To bad her live performances don't match.

[jef]

I've listened to it twice and am listening again right now. I like it better on every listen. It's really fun to listen too.

Fav Tracks -
Do not Feed the Oysters
Ramp of Death
Animal Midnight
Us

Least Fav -
Vanessa..
Sheets

[cradleburns]

Finally got a chance to listen to the CD and I gotta say I'm impressed! Now I have to pick up the first one.

Fave Tracks:
Craw Song
Animal Midnight
Do Not Feed The Oyster

[johansen smith]

that's funny, 'cause the best track for me, easily, is "Vanessa From Queens," followed in short order by "Oyster," "1% of 1" and "Water and a Seat." though if we're counting the bonus disc, then "Old Jerry" wins.

[tinobeat]

when the album is on, goddamn, its some of the best stuff he's ever done. when its off, though, it really blows.

"Sheets" and "Craw Song" are just pretty inexcusably bad. Just trite throwaway songs that sound like nothing was put into them.

hey Dayne, I'd give it a few more listens, cos the best tracks on it aren't the most immediately accessible ones. the first three tracks are tops, and the last two, and a couple in the middle. but the middle gets muddy, and I was ready to dismiss the album as well. but I gave it a shot, and its been great to me.

and definitely none of it can compare to Pavement, but I think that's also cos he's in a different place. I don't think he's even trying to do the same thing. note the narrative lyrics, the more fractured songs, the riffs.. pavement would never have made an album this intricate...

[chabysinisterra]

one trend that i've noticed, disappointingly so, is that mr. malkmus's lyrics seem to have really gone downhill with each listen after, say, wowee zowee!, which, to me, is also lyrically weaker than every previous pavement release. the content of the songs is more trite and the 'wordplay' doesn't seem quite so playful (the refrain from 'do not feed the oyster' being one example). he seems to be less fascinated with the actual sounds, juxtapositions and connotations of the words he employs, imho.

none of this is to say that i don't enjoy the album, though with each new release, i find myself less and less interested in what s.m. is doing. i guess in this sense his career seems to resemble sonic youth's and the mediocrity of their later albums compared to their initial releases. so maybe in a few years he'll bounce back a la sonic youth did with 'murray street.'

with my fingers crossed,

c.s.

[jef]

I actually listened to "Vanessa from Queens" again, and it's pretty good. The lyrics are great.

[Noah]

I hated the album at first but after a couple of listens it grows. But I agree with tino that when this album blows it blows real hard, real hard.

Best track for me is probably Vannessa From Queens, Us is pretty fantastic, and Ramp of Death makes me feel good.

But the bad songs are really really bad:

Witch Mt. Bridge, Sheets, and 1 Percent of One. These tracks are the ones where he seems to be in full classic-rock cock-rock wah-wah pedal mode but maybe I am off on this one.



I don't know what I was expecting from this album but maybe the joke is on us, I mean we're all buying it anyway.

[Craig]

I think Pig Lib is a major return to form for SM. Probably my favorite SM related release since Wowee Zowee. It took a while to grow on me, but now I even enjoy "Craw Song." Throughout, his guitar playing is phenomenal and the drums are fantastic as well. It's a great album.

Personal favorites:

Witch Mountain Bridge
Oyster
Us
Animal Midnight

[Salman]

better then his debut but still doesn't match his stuff with pavement.

my personal favourites so far are "white mountain bridge" and "animal midnight."

[tinobeat]

see, though he's in full awesome classic rock mode on 1% and on Water and a Seat and some others, its when he doesn't pull it off that it sucks.. see "Sheets."

I don't know if there are any other Hendrix fans here, but "1% of 1" does an amazing job of channeling the spirit of "1983 (a merman I shall turn to be)" off Electric Ladyland.

I'm a sucker for riffy classic-rock sounding stuff when its done artfully, but if its done boring, then it just sucks. Luckily Malk does it well most of the time. The other songs I really dislike, Craw Song etc. are just bad cos the lyrics sound so forcedly "clever" and contrived...

[Brad Delp]

The finest Malkmus moments since Brighten the Corners and the better tunes from the solo album.

His lyrics are funny and rock and roll stoopid and the music is catchy as all get out. When people write that they think Malkmus is lazy, it makes me wonder if their souls are too damaged to enjoy sheer simple rawk fun anymore.

"There's aggression in the air this morning
Got your ballerina tights around my head
In a samari pose on the bed..."

BRILL!

p.s. The new Cat Power is soooooo emo...

[tinobeat]

I know what yr saying, but there's fun lyrics and then really awkwardly executed lyrics that can't decide whether they want to be a narrative of some sort or just little vignettes and really are neither here nor there.. I'm looking at you, "Craw Song"

I think "Vanessa From Queens" is great.

The thing is also that with PAvement SM set the bar pretty effing high, and at least for me put me in a place where when I hear something by him I expect to be engaged musically and lyrically, and when he fails entirely to engage me lyrically it can be something of a disappointment. Sure, its fun and lighthearted, but its also not very good at times.

I mean, shit, I think about 75% of the album is tops, I'm just saying that shitty lyrics are ruining the other 25%, and the music in those songs isn't nearly strong enough to make up for them.

[jorgeregula9]

I've listened to the album twice now, and it doesn't seem outstanding. A lot of the songs blend together, and i get a little tired of Malkmus' shrieking throughout. Personally, I think that it would have been a better album if more of the songs were like 'Us'. Simple and subtle could make the Jicks a better band.

[jorgeregula9]

Just listened to the EP, and it seems those first three songs are better than most of the stuff on Pig Lib

[pabost]

Craig - I would agree that the drums are really great. Especially on "Oyster."

[Brad Delp]

"SHRIEKING"???

? ? ?

Y'all are insane.

[Squall91]

I moderately like this album...maybe that's because I've only listened to it once (bought it today). So far, my favorite song is Us.

Can't really choose a worst song yet...

[t.d.]

I don't know what your guys problem is. On first listen I thought that this album was weak, but after about five listens something just clicked. This album is great, thank you Matador and thank you Mr. Malkmus.

[yovan]

I'm more of a fan of truly well-crafted pop material so I love the EP. Pig Lib tends to really grow old in the tooth, especially the latter part of the album. Don't get me wrong, there are some flashes of brilliance (I too enjoy the feel of Vanessa from Queens and the quirkiness of Dark Wave), however as an overall album I find it lacking.

I listened to his first Jicks effort continuously when it came out. I don't see myself doing the same with this one.

[interrust]

in no real order, other than the order they appear on the album:

ramp of death
(do not feed the) oyster
vanessa from queens
craw song
us

and the bonus cd:
dynamic calories
OLD JERRY

-- rust

[lightswitch owl]

I enjoy this album. No, it's not as good as "S/T". There are no standout tracks like "Church on White" or "Jenny & the Ess-Dog", but there's more of a mood implanted in this one. And while i might listen to the first album more, i'm sure it'll be the "Pig Lib" songs that will shine on the stage. Good job, SM.

[Squall91]

This album just gets better and better.

[jef]

I agree with the above statement. I can't stop listening to it.

[CaptBushido]

This album has a strange dichotomy and peoples' opinions seem to be split along it.

On one hand there's the quirky and spontaneous alternative side of Malkmus, expressed in songs like 'Us' and 'Vanessa from Queens'

Then there's the classic-rock-meets-prog-rock guitar-solo songs like 'Witch Mountain Bridge' and '1% of One'

Personally, I kind of like both, but I lean strongly towards the latter. I'm the kind of guy who went through the whole "Pink Floyd guitar monstrosity" obsession in high school, and stuff like that still brings a tear to my eye. Therefore, ironically, I can't help but to consider Pig Lib the best CLASSIC rock album I've ever heard.



...

I almost want to say that I like it better than any whole Pavement album, but I get the feeling that would be blasphemy of the worst kind.