PAVEMENT

Here are a couple of Anglo-American paradoxes for you. Firstly, Pavement are an American band taking their name from the English word for side-walk. Secondly, I am a rare English fan of Pavement, who only got into them on the very cusp of their break-up. In fact, the second paradox is actually not that surprising (although no less disappointing from my point of view) as Pavement's greatest success in England, much like the Flaming Lips, came with a late, overtly commercial offering (Terror Twilight and The Soft Bulletin respectively). Indeed, apart from their unfairly-maligned swansong I believe the rest of their albums are not even in print in the UK and are only available as extortionate imports. Indeed, one of my main regrets about my teenage music tastes was that I was not into Pavement at their peak in the mid-nineties. Imagine how cool I'd have been if I was some English kid who liked Pavement in 1995. Imagine that! Anyway I wasn't. I was some English kid who liked Ash and Kula Shaker. And I was most certainly not cool. I'm cool now, though. At least that's what my mum says. Actually I have a friend who was into Pavement first time around in the mid-nineties, let's call him Dave, and he even met John Peel at one of their gigs. Actually he is the one friend of mine who is also a devoted reader of this site so it will be a real thrill for him to be mentioned. Unfortunately his old man is a policeman so he has been brought up as a lazy bigot and he is also one of the worst footballers I've ever played with (which I never fail to remind him of). Nice bloke, though. Sort of. Well, he likes Pavement anyway.

Pavement really were a ramshackle bunch. Not only did they have two drummers at one stage but they also used to swap instruments during gigs and get up to all sorts of crazy malarkey. In fact, Pavement, a little like Queens of the Stone Age, relied mainly on just two members, scholars and gentlemen the pair of them, Stephen Malkmus and Scott Kannberg whom, for a reason unbeknown to myself, liked to be referred to as "Spiral Stairs". Malkmus took the majority of the vocal responsibilities and I also presume was the more dominant personality of the two, particularly given his solo career has pretty much continued the direction Pavement were heading towards. You might like to think of him as the Fresh Prince, whilst Stairs is the Jazzy Jeff. Or something along those lines. People don't like the way Malkmus sings but I, personally, have no problem with it (anyone who sounds like Lou Reed is a-OK with me). I don't even mind his smug, "zany" lyrics which is a little more inconsistent given how much I dislike Frank Black of Pixies fame for that same reason. Most importantly, though, Malkmus (maybe with the help of Stairs) is a killer songwriter. Despite the deliberately lo-fi and off-kilter nature of the arrangements every album is stacked upon stacked with great melodies. Indeed, even if I were to deny Pavement Best Band of the Nineties status (and it is a close call) they were certainly the most consistent. They didn't match the heights of Mellon Collie or OK Computer but they were consistently bubbling under. If you are the sort of person to be interested in classic bands of eras then I'm sure, in years to come, Pavement will fall under that sort of category. After all, they single-handedly turned Blur from shit cockney indie band to shit alternative rock band through influence alone. Just think, if they hadn't written "Cut Your Hair" I would never have heard "Song 2". Every. Single. Day. For probably the rest of my life. Yeah, thanks a lot. Finally, I got the band picture from the Matador website and they say I can use it as long as I credit the photographer so - Marcus Roth - this shout's for you.

From: David Cook

To your, "Malkmus took the majority of the vocal responsibilities and I also presume was the more dominant personality of the two, particularly given his solo career has pretty much continued the direction Pavement were heading towards."
I say; May I steer you in the direction of the brilliant Preston School Of Industry for evidence of who seems to have been the more talented of the two. Its like Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow, but less cool, the one you least expect gets the plaudits.
To your bit, "Indeed, even if I were to deny Pavement Best Band of the Nineties status (and it is a close call) they were certainly the most consistent."
I say; Other contenders to the best bands of the nineties? Smashing Pumpkins? See Machina, Machina II and Adore for weak efforts that let the side down. Oasis? No progression, no evolution, no chance. Radiohead? Kid A and the fact that Radiohead have spawned so many ridiculously sycophantic depressed fans (whether you are a fan or not, you know they exist!).
Pavement are the band of the nineties. Their consistency to release good albums where others have failed must surely grant them that.

[No-one's saying Pavement didn't release good albums but the Smashing Pumpkins released two GREAT ones and that is why I give them the edge. And, for the record, Adore is no weaker than Brighten the Corners - JF]

Apparently Pavement's debut was eagerly awaited and delightfully received back in the heady days of 1992 although, in a way, it seems a rather strange thing to have happened. Grunge had just hit its peak and Pavement were certainly no grunge band. Quirky college rock had already been pioneered by the Pixies. Their initial EPs, collected on Westing (By Musket and Sextant) the following year, were hardly overflowing with songwriting genius (although there were vague signs). In fact, the only reason I can come up with is that the Yank music scene really, really needed an American Fall tribute band. To be fair to Malkmus and company they were quick to shake off signs of their immediate influence but this album very definitely reeks of major Fall fandom. Malkmus even admits in the remaster's sleeve-notes that the second half of the album is cluttered with Fall rip-offs and when you listen to the likes of "Two States", "Perfume-V", "No Life Singed Her" and, particularly, "Conduit! For Sale" all you can do is applaud his honesty. Personally I'm not the world's biggest Fall fan (although I'm open to persuasion) so it comes as a relief that Malkmus' sixth-sense for sniffing out good melodies was already fully developed in time for the writing of this album. There is also an internal conflict within Pavement between melodic rock and lo-fi alternative arrangements which is interesting to monitor over the course of their career and even within the specific albums. For Westing "crazy shit" stood proudly and conspicuously over melody's butchered corpse but Terror Twilight saw melodic rock ruling the roost - bold as brass. Thus, the sharper minds among you might conclude that, whilst noise started on the offensive, as their career progressed melody overcame it. As it happens you'd be wrong, as 2nd album Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain is actually far more melodic and traditionally arranged than the penultimate Brighten the Corners. But, you would be right in thinking that Slanted is certainly the messiest battle between the two. There are tonnes of cracking melodies ("Summer Babe", "Trigger Cut", "Loretta's Scars", the list goes on) but there are also a lot of contorted arrangements, fuzzy guitar noise and off-kilter instrumental introductions. Thankfully, the two successfully blend into a highly improbable success of melodic noise. There is barely anything that I'd say was unnecessary or spurious and the melodies are never obscured. Indeed, this album is definitely the most quintessential Pavement album in terms of capturing the best elements of both approaches. Unfortunately, I've been held back from awarding a perfect score on account of the Fall-esque filler and the spasmodic absence of memorable hooks on certain songs. Still, this definitely ranks as one of the better debuts of the period and I can certainly see why it was so positively received, even if I'm still struggling as to why it was so keenly awaited. Perhaps it was all down to the preceding "Summer Babe" single release as, leading off the album, it already displays Malkmus' brilliant sense of melody, even if it is one of the more normal-sounding songs. Stairs' guitar solo is surprisingly traditional and the final vocal hook ("every time I turn around...") is positively perfect. Even better, although released as a single after the album hit the streets, is the following "Trigger Cut". Again it is one of the more normally arranged songs but overflowing with juicy melodic goodness. In fact, it is mainly the second half (or side, if you're listening on vinyl) that revels in the wacky world of noisedom. It is also noticeable that the second half is a little weaker, thereby proving my point that melodic Pavement is far preferable to noisy Pavement. That said, I do love the anarchic chants of "Jackals, False Grails: The Lonesome Era" (how on earth did they come up with titles like that?). Possibly my favourite song overall, though, is "In the Mouth a Desert" which veers most closely to grunge dynamics with a build-up of tension to an aggressive chorus. In the name of diversity a trio of ballads is included - the country fried "Zurich is Stained" (which I like), "Loretta's Scars" (which I like even more) and "Here" (which I like a little less than the other two). Again, though, they prove that Malkmus' melodies are a far better songwriting tool than the insane fuzz of the noise angle. I actually do not think this album would be better with a Terror Twilight style production, however, as its off-kilter approach is key to its charm; although not its main strength. In any case, it is an album rightly regarded as a defining milestone of alternative rock.

NB. To celebrate the tenth anniversary of Slanted's release (and to make some money) Matador brought out Slanted and Enchanted: Luxe and Reduxe. Now, let me tell you this, Luxe and Reduxe is possibly the greatest remaster EVER. I haven't heard the original but I imagine the production must have been improved to some degree and certainly this is an excellently produced album. (The tracks included from Westing are improved immensely by the remastering job.) The best feature of this remaster, though, is the sheer quantity of the extra material included. Indeed, so much is included that it has to be spread out over two CDs. The first includes (obviously) the actual album, plus session outtakes (most of which turned up on Westing) and a John Peel session of all-new, previously unavailable material. The second CD includes their post-Slanted four song EP, the excellent Watery, Domestic, plus session outtakes from that, another John Peel session with all-new, previously unavailable material and an ENTIRE live concert, recorded in London in 1992 one day before my twelfth birthday. Now that's what I call a remaster! In fact, this remaster is worth it alone for Watery, Domestic which already displayed an improvement in songwriting (some feat when you consider Slanted's quality) despite only being recorded a few months later. Maybe "Lions (Linden)" isn't the greatest song in the world but both "Texas Never Whispers" and "Frontwards" would be best tracks on Slanted and "Shoot the Singer (1 Sick Verse)" is absolutely fucking amazing - man, what a chorus! The songs from the Watery sessions are also superior to the Slanted ones. The Peel session songs are all quite slow but are certainly worth having. Three versions of "Here" appear on the first disc - on the album, a more rockier alternate mix and an even more rockier and much better John Peel performance. Indeed, when my disadvantaged friend Dave met John Peel he claimed, with his typical modesty, that he was the only DJ in Britain to have discovered Pavement and thus, presumably, was extra keen to promote them with his sessions. The live concert features perfect sound quality and comprises of a selection of the material on here (plus some Westing numbers - which, again, sound better). There certainly isn't anything wrong with it, although, by the sound of it, it must have been one of their less infamously anarchic live shows. It is also noticeable that they should be playing a venue as big as the Brixton Academy so soon after releasing their debut. I imagine they must be eternally in the debt of John Peel. Unless they were supporting someone else, I suppose, but there is no mention of that being the case; although they do thank Sonic Youth at the end. Anyway, you should all go out and buy this package as it is a veritable treasure trove of Pavementy goodness. In fact, if you're British you better start saving as, being import only, it costs a small fortune. It is lucky John Peel ensured they were so popular over here as otherwise it would probably be a crime to own their albums or something. Great job, Peel.

Maybe I've been spoilt by the remastered quality of Slanted and Enchanted: Luxe and Reduxe. Maybe I'm too melody-obsessed to see the true qualities of Pavement's deliberately lo-fi noise-fests. Maybe Maybe. Or maybe you're all wrong and this compilation is not actually anything special. Indeed, I know I'm not alone because I was literally given this album free by a friend who disliked it so much he thought I may as well own it for reviewing purposes than make two of us spend money on it. I know I've made constant references to this release during the previous review so I'll sum up its purpose as briefly as I can. Before Slanted came out Pavement released a few EPs and singles, all of which are compiled on this, er, compilation. To begin with, SM (Stephen Malkmus) and SS (Scott "Spiral Stairs" Kannberg) put together a five song demo entitled Slay Tracks. Then a few more members of Pavement joined and Demolition Plot J-7 and Perfect Sound Forever followed. Finally, "Summer Babe" was released as a single which, along with the b-sides, is also included on here. And that there is your compilation. For the majority of it I think the nicest thing you can say is that there often sounds like there is a good song trying to get out, obscured by all the noise. "Perfect Depth", for instance, has what sounds like a really good vocal melody but when it becomes a strain to extract it from the fuzz questions are raised as to whether it is really worth it. By the time the "Summer Baby" b-sides come around sound quality is at last not much of an issue but the likes of "Mercy: the Laundromat" and "Barry Blacktick" are just more of Malkmus' not-so-cleverly-disguised Fall homages. The lowest point on this album, though, is undoubtedly the Slay Tracks material. I'm not going to be too harsh on them as it is one of the first things they ever recorded and they must have been dead young and they turned out to be one of the great bands of the nineties and so on and so forth but, man, it sure sucks. It is just kids making a demo, really, although it is immediately clear they weren't ones to stick to the rule book. It is also fair to say that a glint of promise is shown in the form of the actually very good "Box Elder" which is, shockingly enough, a normal song. Ignoring the other four tracks, to write a song as good as that straight away shows some promise at least. The subsequent EPs do represent an improvement, both in terms of songwriting and sound quality, but it is still mostly a case of picking diamonds from rough. Also, given that there are 23 tracks in less than 50 minutes, the number of unnaturally short snippets that masquerade as individual tracks only confuses things further. Furthermore, Demolition Plot J-7 is mostly made up of songs that are too fast to be comprehensible (including a daft "Raw Power" rip-off). I do quite like "Forklift", though, and, as I said earlier, with better mixing "Perfect Depth" would have been a good song; although I'm sure it was deliberate. In terms of highlights, "Debris Slide" is one of their better Fall-esque shouty numbers, "From Now On" features a decent melody and "Home" is a deceptively affecting piece, with nice guitar work from Stairs. Maybe with some remixing and remastering the quality could be improved but I guess that is not really the point of this album. I'm sure you all realise the score with these sorts of compilations. If you are a big fan of Pavement and want to hear their inauspicious beginnings, or are a completist (this is where I fit in), or even if you are a massive fan of their noisy incoherent songs on Slanted then, by all means, get yourself a copy of this album. If you've just bought Crooked Rain or Terror Twilight, however, and want to know where to go next then avoid this album like the plague. Well, I guess it is not as unpleasant as the plague - let's say chicken-pox instead.

From: David Cook

Westing is a compilation of otherwise pretty hard to get hold of releases. To that definition, it does its job. Unfortunately those releases were not very good (relatively speaking). Westing should not be considered a true Pavement album, just an oddity for people to look at then shut their eyes to when reviewing Pavements otherwise perfect career as a whole. only buy it if you want the complete collection really.

If you are like me and you don't like that crazy shit Pavement try to pull on us then it goes without saying that this album stands out as their greatest achievement - a bountiful bonanza of peerless melodic rock. As I said earlier, the messy "Hit the Plane Down" aside, any traces of the fallacy of Fall fandom have already been wiped away and this album simply stands up as alternative rock at its melodic best. Indeed, of all the great albums of the nineties (although there aren't that many) I don't think a single one features as many great melodies as this one. The arrangements are quite quirky now and again ("Silence Kit" ends seemingly before it has begun) but it seems relatively clear that this was an early attempt to secure commercial success and hit the big time. Personally, I find it amazing that it should have essentially failed ("Cut Your Hair" was a hit, but nothing major happened as a result) but it is one of the great certainties in life that an intelligent person will never understand why the general public take certain things to heart and discard others. Anyway, the public's loss (and Pavement's) is our gain as the reduction of silly lo-fi nonsense in favour of good old-fashioned guitar hooks and vocal melodies really plays to the strengths of the band. It is not as if the intelligence suffers as a result as the arrangements are still self-referentially clever and unrelentingly unpredictable. Just in case we are left in any doubt, they even throw in a spoof of Dave Brubeck's classic "Take 5" in the form of "5-4=Unity"; which is sure to make the beard-strokers chuckle knowingly. In any case, I imagine there are hundreds of more commercially successful nineties bands than Pavement whose whole catalogue considered as one fails to match "Cut Your Hair". At a push it is probably Pavement's most famous track and certainly they never came closer to the perfect three minute pop song. Even if we assume the melody is peerless (which, of course, it is) the backing harmonies make the song on their own and were infamously reappropriated for the monster that is Blur's "Song 2". This album is so good, though, that "Cut Your Hair" isn't even the best song. My personal favourite is "Elevate Me Later", another perfect blend of pop and alternative rock, with some of the best guitar hooks EVER. The vocal melody for it, as well, strongly suggests that Malkmus was the best songwriter of his generation (better than Cobain, at any rate). The honour of being second best song I think quite clearly falls upon the shoulders of the marvellous "Range Life". I sure like Neil Young so it comes as no surprise that I should dig its strained vocals and frazzled country atmosphere. It also comes across as a superbly affecting and evocative number, with a subtle yet key piano line making it seem even more beautifully wistful. And, of course, how can I let Malkmus' witty put-down of the Smashing Pumpkins go unmentioned ("I really don't understand what they are saying and I really don't give a fuck")? Three utterly superb songs - are there more to come? You bet ya - "Gold Soundz" is another raucous pop number (a la "Cut Your Hair") which, by rights, should have been a classic single of the era. Then there is the opening "Silence Kit", which stutters to a stop not long after it has finally pulled itself into life, but the wilful awkwardness of the arrangement fails to mar yet another of Malkmus' faultless melodies. Finally, we come to the closing "Fillmore Jive" which projects the eternal haze and debauched boredom of an endless party. The verses crawl along with Malkmus singing as in a drunken stupor before himself and Stairs let rip with all manner of guitar pyrotechnics. The inherent finality of it seems to echo something grander than a mere end to an album and the muttered incoherency of the closing line - "they pull out their plugs and they snort up their drugs/their throats are filled with..." - seems to suggest that if Malkmus can't be bothered singing anymore then there's no point in wanting to listen. I really like the song, anyway, and it ends the album as abruptly as it began. To my mind, the only weakish moments come with the ballads. The complex guitar interplay of "Stop Breathing" does not compensate for an unmemorable melody and "Newark Wilder" and "Heaven is a Truck" do not bring a huge amount to the experience. Don't lose sleep over it, though, as nearly everything else on this album is musical gold-dust. Slanted and Enchanted is a great album but nothing on it can touch the trio of "Cut Your Hair", "Elevate Me Later" and "Range Life" - which is reason alone to get this album. Another reason would probably involve the fact that this is one of the greatest albums of the nineties - a melodic masterpiece.

It seems to me that many bands like to make at least one sprawling experimental album during their career, usually in the middle, and Pavement in this respect, for once, are utterly predictable. After Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain failed to win over the pundits as it should have done Pavement obviously decided that it was no use pandering to the college rock crowds and decided to record, by the sound of it, anything that popped into their head. Thankfully this ain't a double album but its hour-plus length means it does fall into the Exile on Main Street bracket. Pavement were so concise that even when they recorded sprawling epic albums they still kept them at a reasonable length. As is often pointed out, a lot of this album is slower than previous efforts (particularly when compared to many of the early songs on Westing) but there are still some punk-esque moments, the best of which is almost certainly the manic "Best Friend's Arm", and Malkmus' seemingly effortless knack for penning great melodies means most of the slow songs sound perfectly gorgeous. They also prematurely echo the winding down of Pavement's career in surprisingly standard alt-rock territory. This is made particularly clear by the classic rock guitar histrionics of Stairs and Malkmus. "Black Out" and "Grounded" both feature immaculately smooth guitar hooks which certainly reinforce my point that "normal-sounding" Pavement is in no way worse than "quirky" Pavement. In fact, I'd wager the band were probably listening to a fair bit of classic rock in the build-up to writing and recording this album as a lot of songs sound a little like homages to seventies rock classics. The excellent "Rattled by the Rush" utilises a surprisingly bluesy rock riff and the lengthy "Half a Canyon" relies solely, and not very well, on a blues-inspired lead guitar. On the other hand, "Father to a Sister of Thought" clearly betrays a country influence as the steel guitar sounds very Gram Parsons like. If you ask me, every rock band should have at least one country ballad in their repertoire and it is comforting to know that Pavement surely agree with me. I guess it is possible that is some kind of post-modern joke but, to my ears, it certainly seems like a genuine tribute to the genre. Even if it is a joke it sure don't matter as the melody is yet another Malkmus peach. I know I already said it in the last review but he surely must be one of the great songwriters of his generation. I do appreciate Pavement's quirky and clever arrangements and left-of-centre approach but I really don't need to look much further than their melodies to see the main worth in the group. In that respect it probably won't surprise you to learn that this album only really suffers through the overly silly and unnecessarily alternative numbers. I don't much care for "Grave Architecture" or "Fight This Generation" and the album ends at its weakest with the unimpressive duo of "Half a Canyon" and "Western Homes". That said, they are immediately preceded by one of my favourite songs - the dream-like ballad "Kennel District" which has a queer sort of atmosphere which they replicated on Brighten the Corners in the form of "Date with IKEA" and "Passat Dream" (another two of my favourite Pavement songs). As I've made immediately clear from the near-perfect rating this album is another cat out of the bag from Pavement. As with all good bands they knew they had to progress and such experimental albums are always interesting when released by superior performers. Malkmus' melodies are excellent as always and the sprawling combination of classic rock licks, beautiful ballads and quirky alternative rock is an intriguing melting pot.

Pavement's fourth and penultimate studio offering, Brighten the Corners, is probably the most unpredictable release of their career and almost certainly the least impressive. It almost sounds like Malkmus and co. were seething from their commercial blank so they made an album as discordant and as consumer-unfriendly as possible, but still married to enough classic hooks to make sure some foolhardy pop pickers were deceived into buying it. Even the anthemic "Stereo" features a sharp contrast between the jubilant chorus and the off-kilter and deliberately tuneless verses. In fact, the chorus seems like a parody of grunge chic (the chugging strumming in particular) and the lyrics are so silly that Malkmus seems almost bored with his smugness (although the infamous "what about the voice of Geddy Lee" line remains amusing.) Furthermore, when we come to the likes of "Type Slowly" and "We Are Underused" it becomes clear Malkmus is so pissed off that he can't even be bothered to sing anywhere near in tune (and I'm sure he takes the piss out of Steven Tyler at the end of the latter). I get the feeling that he is saying "hey look at us! We're quirky ol' Pavement!!" in as sarcastic tone as can come across in musical form. Either that or just "fuck off." Maybe I'm wrong but I really can't see why else the band would go out to create such a deliberate mismatch between melody and discord. The little advertising booklet in the Slanted remaster calls this their most cohesive work but it certainly does not sound like it to me. Furthermore, some of the songs that are meant to be straight-forward affairs ("Old to Begin", "Blue Hawaiian") are simply not that great and smack of complacency. Of course don't let my fondness for a good moan fool you into thinking this is not a good album. Plenty of the material on here is typically great stuff and certainly the highlights are up there with any of Pavement's other albums (bar Crooked Rain of course). Thankfully, Spiral Stairs realised that his old pal Malkmus was in a foul mood during the recording of the album as he volunteered some collector's item lead vocals on "Date with IKEA" and "Passat Dream". Both songs are absolute peaches and the weird atmosphere, presumably aided by the vaguely distorted vocals, also found on "Kennel District" from the previous review, ensures the songs stand out as distinctive individuals from the rest of the Pavement "best of" numbers. Indeed many casual Pavement fans probably do not even know of their existence, which is a real shame given they are certainly better than the far more famous "Stereo". I think the same might be said of the gorgeously wistful "Starlings of the Slipstream". Rather like "Fillmore Jive" a stellar lead guitar dominates but the aching vocal melody on the chorus is vaguely angelic and certainly superb. Indeed, the "Fillmore Jive" comparisons are stretched even further with the closing "Infinite Spark" which is another world-weary finale with a guitar solo eventually disintegrating into oblivion. I guess it is interesting that an album as vibrant as Crooked Rain should end on the same note as an album as jaded as this but you'll have to draw your own conclusions; I can't do all your thinking for you. This album also contains one more classic in the form of secondary single (after "Stereo") "Shady Lane" which is more a ballad-type effort but the fact that it features far greater hooks than most of the other songs on here means it immediately stands out. When great bands release merely good albums, instead of their usual flawless brilliance, then reviews always become overly negative. Sure, there are moments on here that are unarguably mediocre and I still reckon this is an implicitly pissed-off affair but Pavement were a great band and Stephen Malkmus was/is a great songwriter so, rest assured, Pavement's worst is still far superior to many band's best. Does that make you feel better?

It is perhaps surprising, or perhaps not, that after being such an insipiration on left-field alternative rock bands of the nineties Pavement bowed out with by far their most commercial and straight-forward offering. That said, such a move is not unheard of (it is often pointed out that the Velvet Underground released Loaded at a time when other bands were first starting to rip off their atonal early material) and the solo careers of Malkmus and Stairs both suggest they had settled for melody over mayhem in their middle-age (although I bet I won't be calling it that when I reach my mid-thirties). In any case, though, it is an unfair assessment that this is Pavement below their best. Crooked Rain was not a hundred times more adventurous than this release, and both stand their ground on the basis of supremely melodic alt-rock songs. The fact that this album contains slightly less of them provides the greatest disparity. As has been continuously documented through the stories of this page this album is probably the Pavement album that has least to do with quirky Fall-esque noise experiments. Obviously, this being Pavement, there are still quirks and smirks now and again but a fair few of the songs on here are just straight-up alt-rock efforts. In a coup designed to ensnare NME readers the band managed to get Nigel Godrich to produce the album but this is definitely more a Travis style effort than OK Computer. The overall sound is very smooth and professional, in stark contrast to the manic production of their debut. As you can imagine, it was something of a risk as it meant they could no longer rely on clever tricks to get them through but, obviously, Malkmus is such a good songwriter that there really was no need to worry. Like Brighten the Corners there are a couple of mediocre-ish numbers but the absence of Malkmus' pissed-off forced wackiness means this album as a whole comes across as far more unified and cohesive. It also seems like Malkmus is pretty keen on the new, albeit final, direction as his vocals sound a lot happier. Not to mention laidback - most of the time he sounds like he recorded his vocals lying down. No more is this true than on slacker ballads like the brilliant "Major Leagues" or the equally-as-brilliant opener "Spit on a Stranger". They even manage one bona fide pop single in the form of "Carrot Rope" although their lack of commercial clout sadly ensured they failed to break the charts with a hit single about paedophilia (they can leave that to Gary Glitter and the Who, I guess). There are times when they try to rock out (or raaaaaawk out, if you like lazy hack journalism) but neither "Cream of Gold" or "Platform Blues" (featuring Radiohead's very own Johnny Greenwood on harmonica) are highlights. Similarly, the spooky "The Hexx" is too much atmosphere, not enough actual song, although the guitar solo sounds suitably ghostly (and also a lot like one of David Gilmour's). Of course, this being Pavement they were not going to let us forget they were Pavement and not some Joe Bloggs alt-rock band (I'd name an example but I cannae think of any) so plenty of the songs on here still feature oh-so-clever arrangements. "Folk Jam" is a Beck-esque post-modern folk song (complete with banjo), "Billie" contrasts a jaunty acoustic verse with an ill-fitting shouty electric chorus and "Speak, See, Remember" is quite simply fantastic - one of my favourite Pavement songs. It begins pretty jazzy, with West using those brush things, before breaking into a superb second section, with pretty guitar picking, culminating with an excellent power-chord propelled coda. That song alone is proof Pavement were not past it and, although I would have liked to have seen them live, I don't begrudge them splitting up whilst they were still on form and before the disintegrating personal relationships started to ruin the music. As with Brighten the Corners the highlights on here are damn high and thankfully, this time, the few less-than-brilliant songs are not contorted by Malkmus' disgruntlement. Indeed, as anyone who has heard his first solo album will testify, in retrospect this offering seems suspiciously like the work of a man who has grown apart from his bandmates and with one eye on venturing out alone (much like the Police's Synchronicity in that respect). Still, it don't affect the quality of this album one iota. It might not the best or most adventurous release of their career but, compared to most of the dross that dragged down the late nineties, it still shines like a beacon above a sea of so-called 'alternative' mediocrity. If there is any justice Pavement will surely go down as one of the greats of their era.

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