'Stephen Malkmus'

It's hard to approach Malkmus' solo debut without the 'P' word rearing its familiar head, and we're not talking about his hometown patch of Portland. While he may always be guilty of being too quirky for some tastes, these twisted and trippy tracks form a belated yet essential Christmas pressie for Pavement purveyors of all perversions.

And the really good news is that it's a far more accomplished, accessible and ambitious album than last year's rather lame and lack-lustre Terror Twilight. To all audible intents and purposes, this could easily be another Pavement LP, which in my book is certainly no cause for complaint. The man who co-orchestrated the creation of one of the truly incredible and timelessly influential long players (Slanted And Enchanted), is firing on all pop-picking cylinders at his own sweet and surreal pace. Unlike some of Pavement's 'scrappier' material, Malkmus' vocals are foremost in the mix, which is a relief as only one of Pavement's five LPs contained a lyric sheet. The fuzz-box's loss is the listener's great gain, as Stephen belts out classic miniature stories such as "You're such monumental slime/Let the punishment fit the crime/Tie you to a chair/and the house music will blare " ('Jo Jo's Jacket') and the hilarious small-town tale of a bizarre mismatch; "Jennifer takes a man in a Sixties covers band/She's eighteen, he's thirty-one / she's a rich girl, he's a son/Of a Coca-Cola middleman" ('Jenny And The Ess Dog'). Malkmus narrates how the couple's love collapsed "when the strain got too much" and they stopped kissing while listening to Brothers In Arms by Dire Straits. Chart 'boy meets girl' slush this certainly ain't.

Throw in the Pixiesque bubblegum of 'Troubbble' and the equally great 'Trojan Curfew' plus half a dozen gorgeous gems worthy of Pavement at their best, and you've got one hell of a wicked and wild debut . Sure, it ain't Slanted And Enchanted. But all things considered, absolutely nothing is. One for kooky kids of all ages.