Album Review: Stephen Malkmus - Groove Denied

The eighth solo album from erstwhile Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus has purportedly been bubbling away in the background for over a decade, the indie-rock icon largely eschewing his trademark guitar wigouts in favour of forays into the world of synths and drum machines. It’s a daunting prospect for fans not into electronic music, and opener Belziger Faceplant sets the bar high for impenetrability (Malkmus himself accurately attesting that it sounds “like if I was in Berlin and I got home from the dance club completely wasted and tried to make a song”), although fortunately things get more accessible (or conventional at any rate) the further one delves into the album.

Things stay busy early with divergent sounds and samples aplenty throughout the wonky synth-pop of A Bit Wilder and the robotic weirdness of Viktor Borgia, but Come Get Me has the lazy cadence of standard SM fare – albeit rife with weird sitar lines – while Forget Your Place is a spacey jam with an almost desert noir undercurrent.

As the name implies, Rushing The Acid Frat offers a brief psychedelic journey and the oddball Love The Door keeps things trippy before the cruisy guile of Boss Viscerate brings things back down. Ocean Of Revenge finds guitars back at the forefront and Grown Nothing rides it home atop a traditional piano line and a drum machine.

Malkmus’ lyrics throughout are as inscrutable as ever but with plenty to love and, crucially, the whole project – he recorded and played everything himself, helped only in the mixing stage by Tucker Martine (The Decemberists, REM) – seems devoid of irony (well, no more than usual anyway).

After decades of great music he’s more than earned the right to this sonic diversion, and while dedicated electronic artists won't be looking over their shoulders, Groove Denied is fascinating and fun enough to warrant repeat spins, even for the technophobes amongst us.