Malkmus shifts into high gear with Jicks

From left: Stephen Malkmus, Mike Clark, Janet Weiss, and Joanna Bolme.

Stephen Malkmus is not your typical guitar hero. Wiry and with that mop of perpetually Abercrombie & Fitched hair, he doesn't even use a pick, preferring to play the strings of his Fender with an up-stroking index finger.

Malkmus is famous for the now-deceased rock band Pavement, for which he punctuated a bottomless cup of cooler-than-thou catchphrases (grammar police, anyone?) with his punky croak. He's still writing unpredictable, literate, and catchy pop songs. But by replacing his music-mugging gang with a four-member group, Malkmus has more space to plant his distinctive, jagged guitar riffs. In the Jicks, he has also found a group that understands total heaviosity.

During Thursday night's sold-out show at the Paradise, the group slammed out a version of his new album's title track, "Real Emotional Trash," that ran for more than 11 minutes. "Hopscotch Willie," another new song, clocked in at 9:33. Still, I heard a guy next to me grumbling that Malkmus left out a verse.

The good news, for those of us not seeking a lifetime pass to the Jammys, is that even Malkmus at his longest is about putting together pieces of a pop puzzle rather than creating an endless, Widespread Panic space-out. "Real Emotional Trash," for one, is all about shifting, of melody and tempo.

At the Paradise, the performance highlighted the punch of new drummer Janet Weiss, late of Sleater-Kinney. Head down and slightly tilted à la Keith Moon, she controlled the pace and inspired praise from the crowd.

"Janet Weiss is the best drummer," somebody yelled above the post-song applause.

"I won't disagree," Malkmus responded.

Though he played most of the new record, Malkmus dipped into his previous solo albums, with tight performances of "The Hook," "Church on White," and "Post-Paint Boy." His thrashing take on Fear's profane classic, "I Don't Care About You," turned comic thanks to a song-concluding underarm whiff.

If there was a problem with Thursday's show at the Paradise, it was the mix, particularly early on. Malkmus's voice could barely be heard through the muck during the first song, "Gardenia." There's no reason Joanna Bolme's bass should vibrate more than my '97 Buick.

There were also times when you wished Malkmus could turn down the Thin Lizzy. The sound worked on "Wicked Wanda" and the Zeppelin-esque "Dragonfly." It undercut "Cold Son," a perfectly crafted song on record that's driven by a slithery keyboard groove and chunky guitar riff. Malkmus picked up his acoustic guitar for this tune. But it was plugged in, and you could barely hear the distinctive keyboard line.

John Vanderslice opened the show with an uneven set - best when he stuck to bare, crunching arrangements - and an unplugged encore in which he and his band parted the crowd to play on the floor.

Geoff Edgers can be reached at gedgers@globe.com.