''Sparkle Hard'' is the seventh studio album by

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indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, released on May 18, 2018, by

Matador Records Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of mainly indie rock, but also punk rock, experimental rock, alternative rock, and electronic acts. History Matador was created in 1989 by Chris Lombardi in his New York City apart ...

and Domino Records. It reached #174 on the ''

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'' charts, and peaked at #64 on the Official UK Charts.

Critical reception

''Sparkle Hard'' was critically acclaimed upon its release. At

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, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, it received an

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score of 84, based on 26 reviews. Jem Aswad of ''

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'' said that "With nary a weak track, ''Sparkle Hard'' finds Malkmus hitting a new peak nearly 30 years into his career." Several publications named the album one of the best of 2018, including: ''

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'', ''Spin'', ''Q'', ''Uncut'', ''Mojo'', ''Under the Radar'', and ''

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''.

Track listing

Personnel

Stephen Malkmus Stephen Joseph Malkmus (born May 30, 1966) is an American musician best known as the primary songwriter, lead singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Pavement. He currently performs with Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks and as a solo artist ...

– vocals, songwriting, guitar, mellotron, piano, Memorymoog, bass *

Joanna Bolme Joanna Bolme (born April 1, 1968) is a multi-instrumentalist (primarily bass guitar) and recording engineer who works with several indie rock bands and artists, mainly in the Pacific Northwest. She has been the bass guitarist for Stephen Malkmus ...

– bass, backing vocals * Mike Clark – keyboards, JUNO synthesizer * Jake Morris – drums, backing vocals, percussion *

Chris Funk Christopher Funk (born November 28, 1971) is an American musician and multi-instrumentalist best known as a member of the Portland, Oregon, indie rock band The Decemberists. He plays guitar, pedal steel, piano, violin, dobro, hurdy-gurdy, ma ...

– production, acoustic slide guitar *

Kim Gordon Kim Althea Gordon (born April 28, 1953) is an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the bassist, guitarist, and vocalist of alternative rock band Sonic Youth. Born in Rochester, New York, she was raised in Los Angeles, Califor ...

– vocals * Kyleen King – strings * Luke Price – fiddle * JJ Golden – lacquer cut * Adam Lee – recording, mixing * Orion Landau – design * James Rexroad – photography

References

{{Authority control 2018 albums Stephen Malkmus albums Domino Recording Company albums Matador Records albums