Former Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus [ tickets ] looks to launch a reconfigured version of his backing band, The Jicks, with a brief run of shows in January.

The tour, set to kick off with a Jan. 9 show in Tucson, AZ, will be Malkmus and The Jicks' first since the addition of former Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss. Weiss became an available commodity after her former band called it quits earlier this year.

The club tour will hit six West Coast cities over 10 days in January, with more dates expected to follow in the near future. Malkmus and his band will also make a March 9 appearance at the multi-day Langerado outdoor music festival in Sunrise, FL.

Weiss replaces former Jicks drummer John Moen, who had been in Malkmus's backup crew since shortly after Pavement announced it was going on hiatus in 1999. In a scenario something like a multi-team baseball trade, Moen left to fill the drummer's seat for The Decemberists, while Weiss' side project, Quasi, "gained touring rights," over Jicks bassist Joanna Bolme, according to Malkmus's label site.

Malkmus is still backing 2005's "Face the Truth," his third post-Pavement solo effort. The singer/songwriter also recently issued "Kindling for the Master," an EP consisting of remixes of older material.

Weiss hinted recently that new Malkmus and The Jicks material might be forthcoming.

"Steve's got a bunch of ballsy new songs," Weiss said in an item on the Matador label's Malkmus mini-site. "I'm enjoying getting inside a new and very different brain, trying to find the drum parts that suit his creativity. I appreciate how far out and wild he gets with his playing, and look forward to forging into some new territory."