Rumours of a Pavement reunion refuse to go away. In a recent Entertainment Weekly feature, former bassist Mark Ibold, currently touring with Sonic Youth, half-joked: “Why next not month?” when asked if he’d like, expect even, to get back together with his ertswhile bandmates. Which brings us to Stephen Malkmus’s fourth solo album and second with The Jicks aka one-time Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss, bassist Joanna Bolmer and guitarist/keyboard player Mike Clark.

For “if Pavement’s swan song, Terror Twilight, sounded like a lot like a disguised solo album from the group’s chief singer/songwriter”, according to the all-knowing Heather Phares, Real Emotional Trash comes across as a Pavement release in all but name. With a trace of Malkmus’ past as a member of Silver Jews. Along with some guitar solos which suggest an affinity with practitioners of acid-fried psychedelia such as The Crack Pipes.

In the same Entertainment Weekly article, Malkmus hinted a one-off get-together could be arranged to tie in with Pavement’s old record label Matador’s 20^th anniversary next year. A date which also would mark 10 years since Pavement split. Although, as Real Emotional Trash goes to show, who needs Pavement when you’ve got Malkmus & The Jicks gelling like two consenting adults making Shakespeare’s “the beast with two backs”.

(4¼/5)