It may seem a little too soon to be getting sentimental for the early ’90s, but prepare for a nostalgia trip with indie-rock royalty Pavement. You remember Pavement, right? Those forebearers of lo-fi rock, those clean-cut California boys who could do no wrong in the eyes of hipster magazines and record store clerks?
If you don’t remember them, consider this an opportunity to get better acquainted as Matador Records celebrates the 10-year anniversary of their debut with Slanted & Enchanted: Luxe & Reduxe and the DVD documentary / video collection / concert film Slow Century.
Consider the musical and cultural climate of 1992, the year that Pavement first caught the ear of the subculture: The grunge scene had moved from flanneled furtiveness to become a commercial commodity while noiseniks like Sonic Youth found homes on major labels. Independent rock music made in the do-it-yourself ethos was all the rage, and many saw Pavement as the smart horse to bet on in the great rock ‘n’ roll derby.
So Slanted & Enchanted was released to great reviews and ushered in a new genre of smart (and smart-ass) indie rock that used noise and nonsense lyrics alongside strong melodies and classic rock riffs. It’s the sound that launched a thousand ships, from Weezer to Slint to Bright Eyes.
Not surprisingly, the album still holds up pretty well today. While there is certainly a “Pavement sound” (namely lazy vocals, messy guitars and simple rhythms), this record succeeds by keeping the pace varied. Singer Stephen Malkmus oscillates between his laconic drawl and Tourette’s yowls over fast-and-loose drums and shredded, atonal guitars.
The insanity of “Conduit For Sale!” moves into the sloppy country shuffle of “Zurich Is Stained” and in through the psychedelic freakout of “Chelsey’s Little Wrists” before anyone can notice the disparity between these songs.
The real pull of this reissue is in the repackaging, and Matador has done a bang-up job arranging this package. The album proper is included in its entirety, along with session outtakes, the Watery, Domestic EP and a live recording from London.
The danger of listening to Slanted & Enchanted these days is that the album has the status of “modern classic,” with all new repackaging and bonus tracks to persuade the listener that, yes, this truly is a classic. It’s tempting to herald this album as a benchmark of modern music, as many have claimed and as it well may be. But as it stands on its own, Slanted & Enchanted is a good album, interesting listen and an essential piece of indie-rock history.
In the interest of preserving this piece of indie rock history, the Slow Century DVD offers an audio-visual testimony to Pavement’s prowess. The centerpiece is Lance Bangs’ documentary of the same name, which offers a piecemeal history of the band with a few scant interviews and a lot of live clips.
Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore is the only non-Pavement member interviewed, and while he offers the most lucid and enlivening thoughts in the film, he can’t save this boring piece on a mostly boring band.
The music may speak for itself, but the documentary makes no attempt to quantify Pavement’s effect on modern music nor explain their mid-’90s appeal. More frustrating, there is no explanation as to why the band broke up in 1999.
The Slow Century DVD is not a total wash, as all 13 music videos are collected, including the tremendous “Gold Sounds” clip. It’s almost worth the price of admission to watch these five guys dress up in Santa suits and hunt a frozen turkey with bows and arrows, all set in a sunny shopping mall parking lot.
Anybody with an interest in independent music and the lo-fi esthetic would do well to check out the Slanted & Enchanted reissue, if only to revisit a time when the words “indie rock” meant something more tangible.
