BY ERIN MALYSA
PHOTO by James Rexroad
You can’t talk about Stephen Malkmus without first paying at least cursory lip service to Pavement and its now 51-year-old former frontman’s undeniable influence on ‘90s music. Good musicians are informed and pay attention to those before them, which is exactly what Pavement did as they followed in the footsteps of paths blazed by bands like The Fall and The Replacements. After spending most of the ‘90s fronting one of indie music’s most seminal bands, Malkmus mutated and grew into his solo career, releasing seven albums as Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks (with the “Jicks” portion being made of rotating members from former drummer Janet Weiss to current bassist Joanna Bolme.) The band’s newest album, the well-timed Sparkle Hard, drops on Matador Records a couple of weeks before their Chicago show.
