pavement

brighten the corners

‘Pavement is finally back in the scene after about two years of rnseparation form each other.  They have finally teamed up to come out with their latest release, Brighten the Corners.  After the release of Wowee Zowee, it would not take much for any band to come back and record a better album.  On the other hand, since many loyal Pavement fans have refused to listen to this monstrosaty, Pavement still had to compete rnwith the commercial success of Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain.

Considering the fact that Crooked Rain… was one of the best lo-fi rock albums ever written, this is a very difficult task to live up to.  Well, Pavement  has done so on their new album.  This album has some of the tightest songs that they have ever written.  It is fair to say that this has been the best group effort to date.  For the first time since around Slanted and Enchanted Pavement has completely finished an rnalbum.  There are no song lyrics that end in the middle of a sentence.  There are no songs that sound like they were just written.  This music is of the highest quality that you are going to hear for a while.  Obviously, no album will ever compare with Crooked Rain… but this album is in a completely different category.  That album was known for breaking rndown bariers and telling us that the sky is the limit, in a minimalist sort of way.  Their new album is somewhat experimental for the band because it has a tendency to use the tried and true foundations fo rock.

Compare that to Westing.  Also, we get a glimpse at Steve Malkmus’s personal life for the first time.  He shows us himself in lines like “If my soul had a shape, it would be an elipse…”  This is also new ground that Pavement has laid their foundation on for the first time.  On the other hand, he has not gone completely overboard.  There is still some whackiness inside of him.  We see this in lines like: “A redder shade of rnneck on a whiter shade of trash and this emory board is giving me a rash…”

After having seen them play live, in support of this album, the path that they are on seems much clearer.  The concert was an amazing event, as always, but it was very different.  The band was feeding off of each other a lot more.  There were a lot more guitar solos, and fill ins that produced a fuller sound.  This is not somehting that you expect to hear from the band.  They were focussing on putting on a show, not playing their music and that is what was different.  So, in the end, it is safe to rnsay that Pavement has hit the pop scene for good now.