Del.icio.usPavement
Fact Sheet
| Musical genre: | Indie, Rock |
| Country | USA |
The band formed in Stockton, California, in 1989 as a studio project of guitarists and vocalists Stephen Malkmus and Scott Kannberg, known originally only as "S.M." and "Spiral Stairs". Their debut EPs Slay Tracks (1933-1969), Demolition Plot J-7, and Perfect Sound Forever were recorded at the studio of drummer Gary Young and consisted of lo-fi songs highly influenced by The Fall. Later a British music magazine would play Mark E. Smith (founding memeber of The Fall) Pavement's 'Two States', telling him it was an old Fall b-side. He believed them.
Around 1992 Pavement became a full-time band, with the addition of bassist Mark Ibold and extra percussionist Bob Nastanovich; most of their subsequent songs were written by Malkmus, with a consistent minority coming from Kannberg. Their debut album Slanted and Enchanted appeared in this year and became an indie classic, although Pavement remained more or less a cult band despite the enthusiastic reviews. In particular, fractured songs like "Summer Babe" and "Trigger Cut" (both singles) helped make this one of the most abstract early '90s guitar records.
Around this time Pavement began to build a reputation as a formidable, if wayward, live band. Shows in the UK at this time had the band professing their love of Luton Town FC and preparing cucumber sandwiches for the bewildered fans.
After the release of the Watery, Domestic EP, drummer Young, the catalyst for much of the band's eccentric live behaviour, was replaced by Steve West. Leaving behind the lo-fi ethic, they released Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain in 1994, a record with much more of a pop tradition than the first album. In particular, the single "Cut Your Hair", in the band's closest brush with the mainstream, briefly became an MTV hit. Another song which earned the band attention was "Range Life" (also a single), not so much for its melodic country feel but for a lyric appearing to bait Pavement's contemporaries the Smashing Pumpkins and Stone Temple Pilots.
Perhaps in reaction to this success, or to the harsh treatment they had received on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour, Pavement's next record was the much more varied Wowee Zowee (1995). The album's eighteen tracks covered a bewildering variety of styles from grunge ("Flux=Rad") to country ("Father to a Sister of Thought") to art-noise (countless moments), and the critical press appeared somewhat bemused. In hindsight, however, the record is generally seen as one of their best. In 1996 the band released a EP of no great critical acclaim called Pacific Trim.
Notable influences on the band include the Dunedin Sound indie bands from New Zealand. In 1997 Pavement released a cover of The Clean's Oddity on a tribute album of Clean songs, and Malkmus later released a cover of The Verlaines' Death and the maiden.
1997's Brighten the Corners was a mellower and more focused record in which Kannberg took a rare lead. The album combined the best elements of the preceding two albums, particularly on the catchy singles "Stereo" and "Shady Lane" and the unusually bleak "Fin". The album also sold somewhat better than before, although Pavement were never very commercially successful. Here started the music press calling the band mature, while simultaneously longtime fans saw this as the start of their downfall.
It was at about this time that the band started to fragment, with band members starting to focus more on other musical projects or on raising a family. However the band remained in good spirits and took the time to continue touring.
The break-up was delayed until 1999, with the relase of their final album Terror Twilight. The eleven songs, all written by Malkmus, brought Pavement's witty and oblique style into the context of folk-rock, and the album is by far their gentlest and most emotionally direct. Although markedly different from the others it occasionally recalled the band at their best, and ballads like "Major Leagues" and "Spit on a Stranger" rank among the band's best songs.
The band finally split at the end of the decade, largely due to differences between Malkmus and Kannberg, with the former sometimes mocking the latter's more simplistic songs. At a gig in London, Malkmus compared the experience of being in a band to being handcuffed, and it gradually became clear afterwards that this was to be the band's final performance.