Music

Stephen Malkmus’ new album sure to please new & old fans

It’s one of music’s great romantic myths: Rock stars go to Berlin and reinvent themselves. David Bowie did it in the mid-1970s and came back with “Low” and “Heroes”; U2 did it in the early 1990s and returned with “Achtung Baby.” But Stephen Malkmus did it and ended up sounding like . . . well, himself. Only better.

“In the end, I wanted to do what I was best at,” says the indie-rock luminary from his home in Portland, Oregon, where he returned in 2013 after two years in Germany. While soaking up the electronic scene in Berlin, Malkmus had half a mind to take his band, the Jicks, in a similar direction. “I do love that music, but I was worried about it being mediocre. I don’t want to be a Chinese restaurant and start serving Italian food!”

The result is the Jicks’ fifth album “Wig Out at Jagbags,” which drops on Tuesday. It’s a melodic, witty record that will keep fans of Malkmus’ old band Pavement enthralled, too. Although never a big chart act during their original lifespan of 1989 to 1999, Pavement’s cult rep grew so much that they played four reunion shows in Central Park in 2010.

Thanks to both bands, 47-year-old Malkmus is no longer just an icon for cool Brooklyn dads. He’s a major influence for a new wave of acts such as Brooklyn’s Parquet Courts and Massachusetts’ Speedy Ortiz. “My friend went to see Speedy Ortiz the other night and he sent me a text saying they were ‘total Pave[ment]’,” he admits.

That said, it’s good to have older fans too. One of them is Momofuku chef David Chang, who loves Malkmus’ body of work so much, he’s agreed to help promote the Jicks’ new album: Christina Tosi of Milk Bar, the restaurant group’s sister bakery, is creating a flavor of ice cream to sell at the Williamsburg location.  It’s called “Cinnamon and Lesbians,” after a track on the new album. “I don’t know what lesbians taste like, but I know what cinnamon tastes like,” laughs Malkmus. “So it should be a good combination.”

Bon appétit!