What the Senator Wants is a Corndog

Coming in at number nine is Stephen Malkmus with Mirror Traffic, his latest release with The Jicks. His fifth overall solo album and third under The Jicks moniker, this album is more of the same guitar-heavy, supremely catchy, twisted pop we’ve all come to expect from SM. He doesn’t really break any new ground here, but personally, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Having been an SM fan even before I developed a true appreciation for Pavement, his albums tend to be mainstays in my heavy rotation and though this album came in ninth on the list, it’ll likely be one of the most played in the next 5-10 years. This time around he enlisted Beck for production duties. While there are occasional unmistakable Beck flavored accents here and there (such as on No One Is (As I Are Be)), he mainly stays out of the way and lets the Jicks shine once again.

As is typical, there’s not a bad song in the bunch. These are the kind of tunes that stick in the brain and can lead you to sing their choruses throughout the day without even realizing – a risky proposition on some tracks (imagine your tech walking past your office just as you’re singing “I know what the senator wants, what the senator wants is a blowjob”). After getting off to a strong start with the very Pavement-y Tigers they slow it down on No One Is. A lot was made of this song when the album came out about how it was so much more introspective and autobiographical than SM’s typical lyrical output. I don’t know if that’s true and I don’t really care, but I will say it’s musically different than anything they’ve done and it’s beautiful. As the daddy of a little girl I also have to give them credit for the super-cute video featuring SM’s daughters and their little friends playing in the park. Next is Senator, which, if you’re not paying attention, could be dismissed as a gimmicky attention-grabber (there was a contest for fans to change the aforementioned lyric from “blowjob” to something more radio-friendly), but if you are paying attention you’ll know it’s a great tune soaked in that savory classic-Pavement flavor. Next is my favorite track, Brain Gallop. With it’s laid-back groove and the chorus “There’s not much left inside my tank today,” this one has become my driving-home-from work theme song. The rest of the album is consistently good, but Spazz, Share the Red, Forever 28 and Fall Away are as good as anything he’s ever written.

I still contend that Stephen Malkmus is one of the best songwriters not just of our generation but also of any generation. Despite this, he never seems to turn many heads on the national scene. His description in the media as a “slacker prince” is beyond cliché at this point, but if you’ve seen him live you do start to wonder if he’s even enjoying himself at all. Add on top of that the fact that he knows he writes kick ass songs and carries around a monstrosity of an ego and you have a very polarizing figure. You either love the guy or hate him. Much has been made by me in this blog over the years about my favorite bands rising to superstardom (see last year’s Black Keys entries and *ahem* maybe another one in the coming days?) and my internal struggle to continue to support them as mainstream artists. I’m happy to not have to share Malkmus with every douchey follower of the hype machine and respect him even more for figuring out the magic recipe to fly under the radar yet remain perpetually relevant.

The eighth spot on the list was an album that took me by surprise and, after Mondo Cane last year, marks the second consecutive year I’ve had a foreign language album in my top ten.