Pavement -- Slanted and Enchanted

(Matador OLE083)

Brilliant, poetic and loud. Pavement’s debut disc could be the smartest and best rock record released in many years.

The band -- with Charlottesville / UVa roots -- has been around a few years, playing mostly in New York and Los Angeles (where they are currently based), and gaining a cult following that perpetuates continuous rumors of breakup. So by all means, buy this record and enjoy Pavement while you can. And listen to it.

And don’t let the "smart" tag fool you -- this is no prog-rock intellectual effeteness at play. Slanted and Enchanted is the record the Pixies wish they could’ve made, that Throwing Muses only hinted at, that Nirvana didn’t even know existed (now they do). It serves as psychotherapy: listening to a classic single like "Trigger Cut," you inevitably recognize, and empathize with, the feelings and ideas being expressed. The beauty of the disc is its simplicity (or in its laziness -- aficionados call it "slacker-rock") which probably isn’t as simple as Pavement makes it sound. SM (Steve Malkmus), the band’s singer & lyricist, and guitarist Spiral Stairs -- the heart of the quintet -- don’t realize yet just how great they are.

--- George Paaswell (a.k.a. Clark Street) / Catharsis #28 -- Nov. 1992