Weekly Artist Overview: Pavement - Page 2

The band still hadn't played any live gigs; it wasn't until early 1991, after their third EP, that they began to play in front of audiences. For their first shows, Pavement added bassist Mark Ibold and a second drummer, Bob Nastanovich, a college friend of Malkmus. The latter was asked to join in order to bolster the shaky timekeeping of Young, who stayed in the band. All members were present for the recording of the band's debut album, Slanted and Enchanted, although little of the album was recorded together; most of it was assembled by Malkmus and Kannberg.

Slanted and Enchanted is unusual in that it was already garnering praise even before it had been released; the leaked tapes had reached almost mythical status. The band landed with Matador records for the release, which came in Spring 1992. Having played few live dates, the band's fans at this point consisted almost solely of critics and musicians. Slanted and Enchanted changed this immediately; coming from seemingly nowhere, it established itself almost immediately as a classic, and still holds up as one of the essential albums of the 1990's. It is here that the noisy, rudimentary promise of their early EP's draw together in a complete whole. True to form, the album is lo-fi and primitive sounding; however the songs themselves are remarkable in their rich detail. Malkmus takes conventional songwriting and stands it on his head, but without sacrificing his blossoming melodicism and songcraft. Many of the songs are fragments, the melodies drift in and out, but the overall effect is greater than the sum of its parts; the experience some have compared to listening to the best college station in the world over an AM transistor. "Summer Babe" was the leadoff cut, and is instantly winning in its laid back groove. "Trigger Cut" is their best Fall-like song, subverted with a falsetto sha-la-la backing. Instead of reckless noise, the band put together a compellingly listenable collection, full of surprises like bells, weird drumming, chiming guitars, unexpected melodic choruses, and things that click and clack.

The album won them many new fans, although it didn't make the charts. With this encouraging start, the band began touring in earnest; their live shows became notorious for their sloppy sound, and Young's downright peculiar behavior. He greeted the audience at the door, shook their hands, handed them salads or cucumber sandwiches. He'd do handstands on stage, he'd pass out drunk. He was present for the band's next release, and EP called Watery, Domestic, which was a transitional release that showed Malkmus and Kannberg moving away from their static-laden roots and moving towards a cleaner sound. It's an excellent disc; the slow grind of "Lions (Linden)" points to denser directions, and the wistful "Frontwords" is a winner. Best is the leadoff, "Texas Never Whispers", one of their most straightforward songs so far.

Article Author: uao

uao isn't my real name.

Visit uao's author page — uao's Blog