Groove Denied is the sound of Malkmus truly untethered, and once you get past the initial jolt of its radical stylistic change, you’ll recognize it for being the great album it is.
Rather than thinking of Groove Denied as some form of outlier we should only be thinking of it for what it is: a delicious treat.
If the consistent Sparkle Hard felt a little safe, Groove Denied is the flipside: a free-wheeling, oblique and thrilling journey. These 33 minutes are some of Malkmus’ finest work.
While this isn’t ‘Kid A’, it is an excellent album, and we should be grateful that, at 52, Malkmus continues to make pop music that is somehow both familiar and new.
In the end, Groove Denied doesn’t see Malkmus go full EDM raver, or embrace abstract ambience. What it does signify is a willingness to embrace and learn the uncomfortable from a prolific artist whose output may have seemed set in its ways.
What Groove Denied really is, and what it really sounds like, is half an album of what Malkmus usually does (the second half), and half an album of something he’s never done before.
An album that seems intent on shaking up settled notions of what he is capable of.
The indie-rock icon fires up his laptop and lays down a set of quasi-electronic jams that owe more to late-1970s post-punk than to the Berlin nightlife that supposedly inspired the record.
Groove Denied isn't the game-changer fans hoped for, but it's also not the disaster Matador expected. It's just your average Stephen Malkmus album… now with more electronics!
Not everything on Groove Denied works, but it’s gratifying to see a great songwriter still busy being born.
‘Groove Denied’ captures the finer points of Stephen Malkmus’ craftsmanship in wildly esoteric and robotic form.
It’s the strength of his curious forays into digital tools that give Groove Denied its unusual charm.
All this hoopla around Groove Denied undeniably makes for a good yarn, but it also tends to oversell the weirdness of the album.
This bold new direction isn’t sustained; the further into the album Malkmus gets, the more normal service resumes, as if he isn’t entirely convinced of his new direction.
The artist is incapable of making a terrible record, but Groove Denied is simultaneously his most unexpected and least captivating album.
‘Groove Denied’ sounds like something that began as an interesting concept but meanders into just another Stephen Malkmus album.
This record has some very unique and defining moments, but it collectively does not offer up anything too ambituous or interesting. Not at all on par with last year’s “Hope Downs”
Favs: Boss Viscerate, Ocean of Revenge
Hey, Spotifiers! If you enjoyed listening to this album, why not check out "Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven" by Kid Cudi!?
Groove Denied is a project that he had in mind for many years and finally he manages to bring it into fruition just to verify that behind this futile indietronica stands an enormous ego.
1 | Belziger Faceplant 4:24 | |
2 | A Bit Wilder 3:15 | |
3 | Viktor Borgia 3:33 | |
4 | Come Get Me 2:29 | |
5 | Forget Your Place 3:33 | |
6 | Rushing the Acid Frat 2:27 | |
7 | Love the Door 3:09 | |
8 | Boss Viscerate 2:40 | |
9 | Ocean of Revenge 3:30 | |
10 | Grown Nothing 4:20 |