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

Personnel

• 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

References