Dressed for Success

Pavement was an anti-rock band. They were clever, critically acclaimed and typified the Nineties buzz-clique called Slacker. Their singer, Stephen Malkmus was given the title of songwriter of his generation. He wrote clever lyrics and the band played loose noisy leftfield indie that couldn't make up its mind whether it was coming or going. They were the best band of the decade and their influence cast a shadow over the whole of alternative music. But at their heart was a folksy smalltown yearning for peace and family, just like John Peel, but all they could see around them was the static white picket fence of rigidly starched conservative collars.

Malkmus attended high school with Scott "Spiral Stairs" Kannberg. They got together musically after they had left school and formed an experimental hardcore band called "Straw Dogs". Malkmus left town when he was 18 and went to the University of Virginia where he met Bob Nastanovich and a songwriter called David Berman. They DJ'd together on the university radio station and formed a band called "Lakespeed", followed by the excellent "Silver Jews" which became Berman's concern. When Malkmus returned to Stockton he hooked up again with Kannberg and they recorded two songs for the "Slay Tracks" EP. Malkmus left again, this time on a trip to the Middle East. Kannberg pressed up the EP, called the band "Pavement" and when Malkmus returned he found they had acquired a small following.

The band was padded out with Nastanovich, bassist Mark Ibold, and ageing drummer / producer Gary Young. But Malkmus left town yet again. This time he went to Virginia to play alongside Berman and to work as a Museum Guard. So the band was put on hold. When they finally got round to recording and releasing their debut album, "Slanted & Enchanted", it was an immediate critical success. The music was all detuned guitars, it had a loose feel, the drums were laid back and sounded like boxes being hit, it was lo-fi, and above all it had la-la-las. The tricky lyrics were a mysterious blend of yearning, irony, and couldn't care less. They were compared to REM because of the folksy vibe but in reality they were poles apart. This was something original. They weren't followers, they didn't crib their sound, this was new.

They followed their debut with the 1993 album "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain". The songs seemed to be targeting the music industry and the indie subculture in general: the very subculture they belonged to. Lyrics like "Songs mean a lot when songs are bought, and so are you" are satirical on at least two levels. The album included the single "Cut Your Hair" and the slacker anthem "Range Life". It was here that Malkmus believes the band should have called it quits. Their next release was the more experimental "Wowee Zowee" which left behind their carefree slacker-rock and ploughed a more serious furrow. Its still a brilliant, if somewhat patchy, album.

"Brighten The Corners" came next. More in keeping with "Crooked Rain" in terms of a loose indie rock sound yet full of great songs and sonic twists and featuring the sublime "Shady Lane" which includes the lyrics "You've been chosen as an extra in the movie adaptation of the sequel to your life". Peerless. Pavement's final album, "Terror Twilight", is a less joyous affair and although being home to some fine songs it appears strained and businesslike. Truth was, Malkmus and Kannberg were hardly talking by this time. In the end, Malkmus emailed his childhood friend and asked him to post the news that the band had broken up on their website. It was the first Kannberg knew of it.