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Feb 19, 2014There are just too many occasions where Malkmus' tone bypasses droll, flies directly over kitsch, and lands way out in the rough with no hope of ever retrieving the ball.
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Feb 5, 2014It never feels quite enough to warrant the repeated listens that any one of Malkmus’ other solo records deserve, which feels something of a travesty.
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Q MagazineJan 28, 2014It's the most consistently enjoyable Malkmus/Jicks LP since his excellent self-titled album of 2001. [Feb 2014, p.117]
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Jan 28, 2014Overall Wig Out at Jagbags isn't exactly a disappointing release, especially since it's far better than the breed of record many other artists multiple decades into their respective careers make. It is a frustrating one though.
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MojoJan 23, 2014Those bummed that the proggy leanings of his Jicks have encouraged former Pavement stepper Malkmus to indulge his inner Saxondale will find much to love on their sixth album. [Feb 2014, p.88]
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Jan 23, 2014Jagbags runs into some of the same problems that previous Jicks records have faced; his nonsensical lyrical style, which veers between the sublime and the ridiculous at breakneck pace, is certainly an acquired taste, and his penchant for stylistic variation, as always, throws up the odd miss to go with the hits.
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Alternative PressJan 17, 2014Wig Out is full of so much life and melody that it stands as a refreshing alternative to the increasingly homogenous state of indie rock. [Feb 2014, p.91]
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UncutJan 15, 2014Wig Out At Jagbags presents Malkmus at his most eager to please. That it does so while still honoring his idiosyncrasies makes it a particular delight to behold. [Feb 2014, p.82]
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Jan 9, 2014Maybe Jagbags would be better if it were tighter, but you’d lose the crucial impression of a man whose primary mission is now to entertain himself.
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Jan 9, 2014It coasts at times too comfortably its relative strengths, and it never really generates a significant excitement in its more extended jams.
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Jan 8, 2014Wig Out at Jagbags is a reminder that as long as we’ll keep listening and guessing, he’ll just keep playing guitar solos and spitting our analytical words for him right back at us, adorned with a rhyme and stripped of all seriousness.
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Jan 8, 2014Having always been celebrated for his subtle wit and labyrinthine approach to pop writing, he continues to weave genius from his own mental dictionary.
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Jan 8, 2014Like most of Malkmus’ releases, Wig Out At Jagbags won’t likely endear him to many newer listeners. But for those who are of the same disposition, this ain’t a bad place to be.
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Jan 7, 2014Wig Out at Jagbags lands locked and loaded, ready to please the Kool-Aid drinkers among us. You’re either in or you’re out, and you already know which side you’re on. For the thirsty among us, enjoy.
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Jan 7, 2014It's an uneasy détente in the continuing conflict between its creator's best and worst impulses.
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Jan 7, 2014A catchy, noodling collection, with a few keepers and no outright clunkers.
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Jan 7, 2014At the heart of his music is still an inimitable bittersweetness—the light shrug that follows the realization that in time all things will die and pass. His best songs have always felt like ballads, regardless of tempo. There are some of those songs here.
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Jan 7, 2014On the whole, Wig Out at Jagbags strikes a good balance between a little bit of Malkmus being Malkmus and just enough of him letting his guard down, tapping into a more vulnerable side of him as a songwriter that’s underrated and overlooked because it’s so often deflected and obscured by the ingenious wordplay.
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Jan 7, 2014When he stretches out vocally, to match the high-register tremble of his guitar, Malkmus proves that he can come on like a soulman--even when he's wigging out.
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Tiny Mix TapesJan 7, 2014Its songs are well-constructed, well-paced, and all subtly different from each other.... [but] for the most part, it’s a little too “safe” and unadventurous.
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Jan 6, 2014He wonders aloud what happens to ageing punk rockers on “Rumble at the Rainbo” and waxes nostalgic on “Lariat.” “Independence Street” summons his reverence for Lou Reed with lyrics so wry and a vocal delivery so laconic that Reed himself would have approved.
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Jan 6, 2014[The album sounds] well rehearsed in all its complexities, but enthusiastic and offhand. Mr. Malkmus has written enigmas that are open to exegesis, but they also just roll on by with a whoop and a grin.
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Jan 6, 2014Few of his contemporaries possess a post-important-band solo discography as prolific and consistently great as that of Stephen Malkmus, but each new album firmly leaves his past in the dust.
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Jan 6, 2014Even if Wig Out at Jagbags is quieter than, say, 2008's churning Real Emotional Trash, it feels looser than most of the Jicks records; the compositions are tight but the attitude is ragged, which winds up being more infectious and fun than albums where the songs drift but the instruments are tight.
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Jan 6, 2014Here he tightens the screws a bit to make 12 purposeful, concise tracks.
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Jan 6, 2014Jagbags might suffer from a mild case of "the mids"--mid-paced, middle-aged, and (at times) middle-of-the-road--but there is still much to enjoy here.
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Jan 6, 2014Stephen Malkmus’s career post Pavement has largely been hit or miss, but on Wig Out At Jagbags the hit quota is as high as it has ever been. This is the album that any Malkmus aficionado would hope for.
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Jan 6, 2014Wig Out at Jagbags is pretty much everything we could have hoped for from Stephen Malkmus at this point in his career.
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Jan 6, 2014Singles are by nature the juiciest bait, but what's cheering is that so many of these tracks match Lariat for sheer breeziness.
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Jan 3, 2014Wig Out at Jagbags finds him reverting to type, with willfully obtuse sonic strategies that strive to wrong-foot even the most devoted listener.
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Jan 3, 2014Pop-rock deconstructionist, art-rock godfather, Portland father and family man: all these elements come through here and it makes this album a triumph.
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Jan 3, 2014The contentment Malkmus expresses here is so cozy you might feel a little corny calling it wisdom. But you wouldn't embarrass yourself too much if you called it perspective.
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Jan 3, 2014Sure, there’s clunky country passages (‘Houston Hades’), brassy crooning (‘J Smoov’) and Cream-y jams (‘Cinnamon and Lesbians’), but Malkmus’ wit remains more than intact in his middle-age.
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Jan 3, 2014Much like 2011's Mirror Traffic, Wig Out is more succinct and direct than the first few Jicks releases, but any slick habits he's picked up are punctured by his trademark gobbledygook lyrics.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 18 out of 21
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Mixed: 3 out of 21
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Negative: 0 out of 21
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Sep 21, 2014
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Feb 7, 2014
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Feb 2, 2014