I realized again as I was reading this semi-memoirish 33-1/3 volume by novelist Bryan Charles that I’m not exactly a natural Pavement (and/or Stephen Malkmus) fan. I saw Pavement live around the time
Wowee Zowee came out, in the mid-‘90s, and they were excellent—a great show. I hoped that would clarify the albums, which I had never connected with, but alas no. In memory
Wowee Zowee was the one I finally got, but whatever I heard then was no longer there on more recent listening. Though his path to
Wowee Zowee is somewhat convoluted and weird, Charles was a fan of Pavement from approximately
Slanted and Enchanted on. If anything,
Brighten the Corners (from 1997) is the one he has had the most intense infatuation with. Charles just assumes you get it or don’t, which I appreciated in a way because he’s really never trying to sell anyone on the band. He addresses the “slacker” image that has dogged Pavement and Malkmus since 1992. The truth is they were/are very hard-working. Great live shows like I saw do not happen by accident. Yet, at the same time, there is definitely something unkempt and underachieving about the surface of Pavement. “Slacker” actually captures the aesthetic perfectly for me, but I’m on the outside looking in here. I liked Charles’s eccentric and novelistic approach to this. He relies on his memories and impressions of his experience with the music and also on interviews with a dozen band, label, and other principals involved with the album (including the cover artist). All these conversations involve natural fans of Pavement, including individual band members. They all understand Pavement, often declare the music life-changing, and discuss it in ways that make it clear how much they love it. I learned some things I didn’t know—David Berman went way back with Malkmus, for one. I liked Charles’s style enough I may want to check out his novel (
Grab on to Me Tightly as if I Knew the Way, 2006) or memoir (
There’s a Road Everywhere Except Where You Came From, 2010), wordy titles and all. For all his subdued, dare I say slacker, tone here, Charles obviously loves a long title. This treatment of
Wowee Zowee is basically for Pavement fans only.
In case the library is closed due to pandemic, which is over.
To tell you the truth I think it was all downhill after their debut single, "Summer Babe." I played the first two albums a lot at the time, tho. They were like the college dropout Amerindie version of The Fall. Catchy post-punk rock. Then I lost touch, barely sampled this one or the last two Pavement albums. I never checked back in until the first Malkmus album, which was more hippie rock, more "Summer Babe" and more long jam Krautrock/prog psychedelia. Very good.
ReplyDelete