Stephen Malkmus will always have a special place in my heart as a Jick or as leader of Pavement. I kind of checked out since “Real Emotional Trash,” however, I’ve been back and forth, especially with the Beck produced material. Malkmus has stepped up his guitar noodling. Hell, he has mastered it so much that it doesn’t come off as self-indulgent, but essential to the song structure. “Chartjunk” has the slacker prince riffing on what sounds like a Cheap Trick B-side. Stephen has also mastered the art of storytelling without being too wordy or the possibility of losing the audience’s attention. You gotta love the alliteration and use of random names on the album in its’ playful manner.