Sparkle Hard

Sparkle Hard is the seventh studio album by American indie rock band Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, released on May 18, 2018, by Matador Records and Domino Records.^[1] It reached #174 on the Billboard 200 charts,^[2] and peaked at #64 on the Official UK Charts.^[3]

Sparkle Hard
Studio album by Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
Released	May 18, 2018
Studio	Halfling Studios, Portland, Oregon
Genre	Indie rock
Length	43:41
Label	Matador Domino
Producer	Chris Funk
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks chronology
Wig Out at Jagbags (2014) Sparkle Hard (2018)
Singles from Sparkle Hard
"Middle America" Released: February 7, 2018 "Shiggy" Released: March 26, 2018 "Refute" Released: April 25, 2018

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.9/10[4]
Metacritic	84/100[5]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
The A.V. Club	B+[7]
Financial Times	[8]
The Guardian	[9]
Mojo	[10]
The Observer	[11]
Pitchfork	8.0/10[12]
Q	[13]
Rolling Stone	[14]
Uncut	8/10[15]

Sparkle Hard was critically acclaimed upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, it received an average score of 84, based on 26 reviews.^[5] Jem Aswad of Variety said that "With nary a weak track, Sparkle Hard finds Malkmus hitting a new peak nearly 30 years into his career."^[16]

Several publications named the album one of the best of 2018, including: Rolling Stone,^[17] Spin,^[18] Q,^[19] Uncut,^[20] Mojo,^[21] Under the Radar,^[22] and Consequence of Sound.^[23]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Stephen Malkmus.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Cast Off"	2:54
2.	"Future Suite"	2:43
3.	"Solid Silk"	4:37
4.	"Bike Lane"	3:34
5.	"Middle America"	3:31
6.	"Rattler"	3:08
7.	"Shiggy"	3:16
8.	"Kite"	6:40
9.	"Brethren"	2:51
10.	"Refute"	3:24
11.	"Difficulties / Let Them Eat Vowels"	7:03
Total length:		43:41

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.^[24]

• Stephen Malkmus – vocals, songwriting, guitar, mellotron, piano, Memorymoog, bass
• Joanna Bolme – bass, backing vocals
• Mike Clark – keyboards, JUNO synthesizer
• Jake Morris – drums, backing vocals, percussion
• Chris Funk – production, acoustic slide guitar (10)
• Kim Gordon – vocals (10)
• Kyleen King – strings (3, 9)
• Luke Price – fiddle (10)
• JJ Golden – lacquer cut
• Adam Lee – recording, mixing
• Orion Landau – design
• James Rexroad – photography