Search - Stephen Malkmus :: Jenny & Ess Dog

Malkmus diverges a little from his standard fare

Liz Rodriguez | 04/11/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Everyone wants Stephen Malkmus to sound just like Pavement did in the good old days. And for the most part on his first solo album, he does. This is the second single off that album, and Jenny & The Ess Dog sounds like it could be Pavement, except that this song is (gasp!) actually in narrative form. The remaining songs, however, are an interesting departure from Malkmus. "That's What Mama Said" is a long, guitar jam, "Alien Boy" is a cover of an old punk song by The Wipers (and it sounds an awful lot like early Nirvana, and "Keep The Faith" is more of a crowd sing-along type song than anythign else. Malkmus exploring the kind of music he grew up loving isn't a bad thing, it's just different. And while this is one of those cd's I'll buy and only listen to once in a while, it's a great cd to add to a collection."