Four albums in to his career's second act with the Jicks, I'm not sure I know what I want from Stephen Malkmus. As with many music obsessed children of the nineties, Pavement was my moon and stars during their decade of existence. While I've greeted all of his solo discs with cautious optimism, they've ultimately been disappointingly shallow. His increasing musical competence brings with it a tendency for over-indulgent noodling. His attempts to be playfully aloof have seemed distastefully smug. While the elements that made his former work so great are still occasionally apparent, the songs lack Pavement's romantically shambling mystery. It usually sounds decent, but in comparison it's kind of a heartbreak.

"Dragonfly Pie," the lead track from Real Emotional Trash, starts promising with a snarling guitar lick that immediately conjures a smoke filled bar room. New drummer, Sleater-Kinney's Janet Weiss, adds a cymbal crashing swagger, without overshadowing her new boss. But something is still off. The chorus is too light, mismatched to the bluesy instrumental that precedes it. And there are no real surprises here, no structural curve balls beyond an admittedly nice guitar solo or three. You need look no further than the first line to realize that Malkmus can still be a fine lyricist. "Of all my stoned digressions, some have mutated into the truth," he sings. These days it just doesn't happen as frequently as I'd come to expect.