Best New Music: Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks

Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong decade -- that I should have been going out partying and hooking up with dudes in the '90s, when all the guys were skinny and smart and shaggy-haired and looked like Stephen Malkmus. (As opposed to now, when they're skinny and shaggy-haired and wear neon Ray Bans.) And even though I was still watching Nickelodeon when his first record came out, I'll always probably have a crush on Malkmus, who -- old man and all -- still writes some of the best damn pop songs this side of the O.E.D.

Malkmus. (Note: not really an old man.)

Case-in-point: the recently-released Mirror Traffic, a snarky, melodious romp through 15 songs, and each of them as excellent and memorable as the next. Check out my full review at Phrequency.com, and revel in Malkmus-y joy.

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