CD of The Week

"No one here has changed, no one ever will" is casually bellowed by our fearless leader of slackerdom during &quot;Rumble At The Rainbo,&quot; a mid-album gem in an otherwise status quo new release from <strong>Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks</strong>. In most cases "status quo" would be a derogatory description of a new release, but in this case Wig Out at Jagbags gives any SM/Jicks fan all his or her heart could ever ask for. From the big lead riff on album opener &quot;Planetary Motion,&quot; to the lazy horns on &quot;J Smoov,&quot; to the prog-rock stylings of &quot;The Janitor Revealed,&quot; this is textbook Malkmus in the post-Pavement era.

The class of the record comes in the form of two tunes which remind us why Uncle Malky will always have a devoted tribe. &quot;Independence Street&quot; is a slow jam which lazily grabs your ear in an attempt to remind you to love yourself. Proclaiming "I'm just busy being me" shows a songwriter who has been on the scene for 20+ years knowing he might have a formula, but is happy to know it works. Not being anything but yourself has always been an overarching theme on releases from The Jicks, and this jagged lullaby reminds us that artists sometimes can find freedom in aging.

&quot;Cinnamon and Lesbians&quot; features the soaring Fender sound that has always put Malkmus at the top of the lo-fi guitar gods list. The lead lick is almost a carbon copy of the iconic riff in &quot;St. Stephen&quot; by <strong>The Grateful Dead</strong>. Would the average Pitchfork reader call bollocks on such indie heresy? Maybe the most reassuring part of this whole LP is that our pied piper name checks that same band of hippies from San Francisco during &quot;Lariat,&quot; and clearly doesn't seem to care.

Catch Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks at The TLAin Philly on March 1st.