Stephen Malkmus’s experimental electronic album is decent, but below his standard

Groove Denied (2019), Stephen Malkmus’s latest album released on March 15, is the veteran indie-rocker’s experimentation with electronic music, inspired by his days living in Berlin. While the album is not as consistent as most of his albums with The Jicks (like Sparkle Hard from last year) it is quirky, weird, and has enough good songs to make a solid 33-minute listen worth it.

To open the album, “Belziger Faceplant” greets the listeners with strange sounds that abound on the first half of the record. I often got cosmic video game vibes, and it’s evident that Malkmus was having fun playing with drum machines and synthesizers. “A Bit Wilder” is a spunky, persistent groove, and one of the best songs on the album. Maintaining creativity as an adult and aging artist is a major theme of the album and he sings about “imaginary notes” and “slinging kid slang at the cars” on “A Bit Wilder.” On “Forget Your Place,” spacey, bizzare grooves back abstract lyrics like “Sky-high in the galleria / Walking around on a neon afternoon” and “24/7 creative adults.” There are random electronic gun blasts, static, and lots of other sonic forms Malkmus seems to be having fun with.

While it is encouraging to see Malkmus having some fun, and the electronic tracks aren’t bad, the best songs are still straight-up indie rock. Some simpler, and very good, mostly guitar songs appear on the second half of the album. “Come Get Me,” “Love the Door,” and “Boss Viscerate” are some of his better tracks, with typical abstract and humorous Malkmus lyrics about loneliness, the present moment, and inevitable death.

“Come Get Me” is a very solid track contemplating loneliness and the desire for affection. Malkmus sings “Out on a limb here, I can’t walk / On a ledge eternal / You can get with me / (We’d be good) / We’d be so special, yes we would.” On “Love the Door,” the main rhythm and melody of this song are guitar and drums, but lots of weird synths and sound effects are added throughout. To the steady guitar hook, Malkmus sings “You’re ever-present here / Whatever stupid difference you take from what I am saying here / Dominate the here.” 

One of the worst songs on the record is “Viktor Borgia,” which has a beat that sounds like it could belong in a vintage video game and becomes tiring. While the song contains characteristic Malkmus humor, like “There’s patient Larry / with his canary…. Your eyes are like a present / from a peasant,” those lyrics do not redeem the off-putting attempt at techno grooves that sound like robots becoming unhinged and cheesy ‘90s computer game effects.

“Rushing the Acid Frat” is another song on the album that could easily be penned to a Jicks record, and paints a quirky vision of “Ice angels burning in two /Arctic vision / Slather your eyes with perfume / Stew the pigeon / Flutter your wings and chow down.” The song is quick paced and danceable.

To be clear, this is not Malkmus’ best album, but there are certainly some good tracks, and it shows some growth and sonic experimentation that was typical in Pavement records. For Malkmus fans, the long in-the-works album will be satisfying — but not overwhelming.

Article by Jack Austin