With the release of their new album, Sparkle Hard, heading our way on May 18, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks have shared an eponymous documentary short film shot on-location in Portland, OR this past January, directed by Brook Linder. It’s an intimate and brilliant glimpse into the quotidian world of Stephen Malkmus – songwriting legend, tennis champ, horseback rider, band-leader, and all-around charming goofball. “Since watching this doc,” says Stephen, “I’ve improved my tennis game immensely… I’ve shortened my follow through on the forehand and made progress on a buttery topspin backhand.”
Director Brook Linder has shared his inspiration, explaining “I have long been a Malkmus fan, and for years have thought very hard about what I would make with him given the opportunity. He’s such a unique character and there’s obviously so much history involved – making anything at all seemed pretty formidable. To me he is mysterious and nothing is obvious. The idea of making a typical visual to match the sound was out straight away.” Brook, thinking back to when he first saw Malkmus play live, at Pitchfork Fest 2007, recalled “the set was mostly Malkmus and an acoustic guitar, and it was so raw and funny and vulnerable and felt rare and weird. I wanted to capture that side of Malkmus somehow – to grab the mundane details of his life – and it turns out they’re as enigmatic as he is.”
Watch ‘Sparkle Hard: The Movie’ below.
Sparkle Hard is light ’n’ breezy, head-down heavy, audacious, melancholic and reflective, goodtime and bodacious, and it pulls off the smartest trick: it’s both unmistakeably The Jicks and – due to the streamlining of their trademark tics and turns, plus the introduction of some unexpected flourishes (Auto-Tune! A fiddle! Guest vocalist Kim Gordon! One seven-minute song with an acoustic folk intro!) – The Jicks refashioned.
Self-indulgent escapism has never been The Jicks’ bag, but on Sparkle Hard, the reality of modern life sits closer to the surface, communication cutting to the chase whether it’s a proto-punk grind or a back-porch country duet doing the talking. A cleaner burn for dark and complex times.
