Hitting the ground running

Fresh from a reunion tour with Pavement, Stephen Malkmus has a new album with The Jicks, says Ed Power

STEPHEN Malkmus laughs dryly when his old band, Pavement, is mentioned. To music fans of a certain age, this gloriously rough-at-the-edges Californian quintet were second only to Nirvana in their influence on modern rock. Malkmus’s disconnection from the perception that Pavement were one of the most important groups of the past quarter century is strange. If he is in awe of the Pavement legacy, he’s concealing his feelings well.

Malkmus is faintly amused by the hero worship. Last year, Pavement embarked on a long-awaited reunion tour, playing everywhere from Tokyo to Dublin’s Tripod. Far from sparking a new lease in their life, Malkmus was happy to put the ‘brand’ back on ice after the lucrative run of live commitments. He had a heck of a time performing 15-year-old songs for months on end, but it’s nice to go back to the day job, fronting The Jicks.