Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks release their new album, Sparkle Hard on May 18th, via Matador, recently the band shared shared their new single “Refute,” described as a country-tinged reflection on marriage and infidelity, featuring guest vocals by Kim Gordon.

The Jicks’ seventh record involved some “navel gazing”, according to singer, songwriter, and guitarist Malkmus and not only in terms of what it means to be releasing music in 2018. If, like him, you’re a voracious consumer of all kinds of culture and feel the need to interact with it, rather than just react, then inevitably “there’s a world that prompts you to put your best foot forward”. With Sparkle Hard Malkmus, Mike Clark (keyboards), Joanna Bolme (bass) and Jake Morris (drums) do exactly that. And they hit the ground running – on air treads.

If 2014’s Wig Out At Jag Bags balanced the lengthy prog workouts of Pig Lib with Mirror Traffic’s sparky pop moments, then Sparkle Hard bears less obvious direct relation to what’s come before. It also has turbocharged energy and enthusiasm by the truckload. Malkmus started writing Sparkle Hard in 2015. He’d upgraded his home-recording equipment and bought some electronic drums and had been working on the Netflix series Flaked (he penned the incidental music and the end theme song). Demos were done in one day in April of 2017 and then in May, The Jicks started recording at a new studio in Portland called Halfling, which is managed by multi-instrumentalist Chris Funk of The Decemberists, who produced the album.

Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks
Sparkle Hard
Tracklisting:

1. Cast Off 
2. Future Suite 
3. Solid Silk 
4. Bike Lane 
5. Middle America 
6. Rattler 
7. Shiggy 
8. Kite 
9. Brethren 
10. Refute 
11. Difficulties / Let Them Eat Vowels 

Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks
Tour Dates:

6/1/18 – St. Paul, MN – Turf Club SOLD OUT
6/2/18 – Milwaukee, WI – The Back Room at Colectivo SOLD OUT
6/3/18 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall SOLD OUT
6/5/18 – Columbus, OH – Ace of Cups SOLD OUT
6/6/18 – Pittsburgh, PA – Rex Theater
6/7/18 – Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop
6/8/18 – Detroit, MI – Magic Stick
6/9/18 – Toronto, ON – Lee's Palace SOLD OUT
6/11/18 – Montreal, QC – Theatre Fairmount
6/12/18 – Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair SOLD OUT
6/14/18 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg SOLD OUT
6/15/18 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg SOLD OUT
6/16/18 – Philadelphia, PA – Theatre of Living Arts
6/17/18 – Washington, DC – Black Cat
6/19/18 – Carrboro, NC – Cat's Cradle
6/20/18 – Athens, GA – The Georgia Theatre
6/21/18 – Nashville, TN – Mercy Lounge
6/22/18 – Louisville, KY – Zanzabar
6/23/18 – Cincinnati, OH – The Woodward Theater
7/17/18 – Petaluma, CA – Mystic Theatre
7/18/18 – San Francisco, CA – Slim's
7/20/18 – San Diego, CA – Casbah SOLD OUT
7/22/18 – Phoenix, AZ – The Crescent Ballroom
7/23/18 – Albuquerque NM – Launchpad
7/25/18 – Austin, TX – The Mohawk
7/26/18 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall
7/27/18 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater
7/28/18 – Tulsa, OK – The Vanguard
7/29/18 – Kansas City, MO – Record Bar
7/31/18 – Englewood, CO – Gothic Theatre
8/1/18 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
8/3/18 – Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theatre
8/4/18 – Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre
8/5/18 – Portland, OR – Star Theater