Another interesting storyline is Gary Young's departure from the band.  Gone were the band's charming unpredictability and a strong, though volatile, stage presence.  But Pavement resurfaced with a more cohesive and mature sound. 

My favorite tale, though, was part-time drummer Bob Nastanovich's story of the early moments of the Silver Jews, Malkmus's side project with Nastanovich and David Berman:

"Basically, we knew this girl called Tonya Small who worked at Pier Platters in Hoboken, a legendary records store, the best in the entire metropolitan area. She made the mistake of giving us Kim [Gordon] and Thurston [Moore's] phone number, and the Silver Jews would basically just play noise and those early songs into the Sonic Youth answering machine.... We'd realize that no one was home and the answering machine would pick up and we'd like jam for ten minutes and tape it. We'd do that once or twice a week." [p. 84]

Pavement will stand as one of the landmark bands of 1990s indie rock. If you are a rock fan and unfamiliar with Pavement's work, Perfect Sound would serve as a nice narrative to accompany Matador's re-releases of the band's classic albums. And if you're a longtime fan, the biography helps explain the inner workings of the band and offers factoids you can use to, ahem, impress your friends. While no groundbreaking revelations are made in the book, it is certainly a worthwhile and enjoyable read.

For more musings on the best independent music, the music industry, and the like, swing by No Matter What You Heard.