Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
Malkmus performing with The Jicks in 2006
Background information
Origin	Portland, Oregon, United States
Genres	Indie rock
Years active	2000–present
Labels	Matador, Arts & Crafts México
Website	www.stephenmalkmus.com
Members	Stephen Malkmus Joanna Bolme Mike Clark Jake Morris
Past members	John Moen Janet Weiss

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks is a rock band consisting of Stephen Malkmus, Mike Clark, Joanna Bolme, and Jake Morris. Malkmus was the main singer and songwriter behind the influential 1990s indie rock band Pavement.

The Jicks formed in 2000, almost immediately after Pavement's 1999 "hiatus" began. The group's first record - which had a working title of Swedish Reggae - was simply called Stephen Malkmus. It was released by Matador Records on February 13, 2001. At least a few of the songs were proposed Pavement songs before the group disbanded (need source).

The group made their official live debut at New York's Bowery Ballroom only a few weeks before their first record was released. Around this time, Pavement's auxiliary percussionist Bob Nastanovich began acting as The Jicks' tour manager, and Mike Clark joined on keyboards.

Pig Lib was the name of the band's second record, which was released in 2003. The album featured a looser interplay between the musicians with longer song lengths and a growing emphasis on guitar solos. The album received positive reviews, gaining 4/5 stars from Rolling Stone and an 8.0/10 from Pitchfork Media. In 2003 the Jicks opened for Radiohead on their North American tour, and in 2004 the band helped to curate an edition of the British All Tomorrow's Parties festival.

Face the Truth, came in 2005 to widely positive reviews, many of them claiming a return to Wowee Zowee-type form. Most of the album was recorded by Malkmus alone in his basement, although each member of the Jicks play on at least one song on the record. The band toured only briefly behind this record, partially due to the fact that Malkmus had a new child. During this time period Joe Plummer briefly filled in on drums.