I like to read reviews of records I like. Does everyone do this? I’m not looking for a recommendation — I’ve already bought the record. I just want to read about other people liking what I like. I wonder, maybe, if this has to do with not having a lot of friends with similar music tastes. Sometimes I wonder if I want to justify that liking something is okay, or in good taste.
Whatever the reason, reviews of Jicks albums consistently drive me insane. Whoever is writing it talks about a) Pavement b) their experience with Pavement c) then says something like, “There’s some of that same magic in the new Jicks album but it ultimately isn’t great.”
Spoiler alert: The Jicks are not Pavement.
If you are looking for “the Pavement magic,” go listen to your Pavement albums again. They’re still there! They’re still great. The Jicks are a different kind of magic, their own Jicks magic, and if you can’t shake your ears free of your Pavementian longings and expectations, you are missing out on something great.
p.s. Mirror Traffic is so great I don’t even know what to tell you.
