Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks Share New Single ‘Refute’ Featuring Kim Gordon
By Andy Kahn Apr 25, 2018 • 8:28 am PDT

Matador Records will release a new Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks LP Sparkle Hard on May 18. The band shared “Refute,” a new single from the upcoming album that features guest vocalist Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth.
The follow-up to 2014’s Wig Out At Jag Bags was recorded at Halfling, the newly established recording facility in Portland, Oregon. Frontman/guitarist Stephen Malkmus was joined by keyboardist Mike Clark, bassist Joanna Bolme and drummer Jake Morris and enlisted The Decemberists’ Chris Funk to produce the 11-tracks on Sparkle Hard.
In a recent interview with Pitchfork, Malkmus revealed that if Kim Gordon declined to add vocals to “Refute,” he was going to ask Lorde for whom he recently performed a favor. Malkmus further described the “Refute” collaboration with Gordon, stating:
I wrote that song. It’s a country song, and I was playing with country tropes in my mind—imagining tight jeans and trucks—and filtering them through something more modern. Kim is a friend and she just said, “I think the lyrics are funny, I’ll do it.” She’s really inspirational—she’s always doing stuff.
Here’s “Refute”:
Listen to the prior shared single “Shiggy” below:
And stream the previously shared single “Middle America”:

Sparkle Hard Tracklist
- Cast Off
- Future Suite
- Solid Silk
- Bike Lane
- Middle America
- Rattler
- Shiggy
- Kite
- Brethren
- Refute
- Difficulties – Let Them Eat Vowels
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