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Pavement
Crooked Rain Crooked Rain 2004 Matador "Aside from having some of Pavement's best songs…I tend to associate Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain's creation and subsequent touring with an era in which Pavement became a real band- as opposed to something SM and Spiral had cooked up previously."
Like their debut Slanted & Enchanted, Pavement's sophomore release gets the double-album repackaging treatment on its 10th birthday, and not unlike the former, is a perfect gift for both die-hard fans and the first timers. Possibly their best album, Crooked Rain's ramshackle, subdued feel took everything that was already great about the band and made it a bit more palatable to the masses. Yielding the top ten hit and momentary MTV staple "Cut Your Hair," a slew of positive reviews and new fans, it could have been an attempt at a mainstream bid, but they would opt to stay in the indie scene for the duration of their career. SM's kitschy and catchy melodies, combined with the sloppiness of the band set the stage for his attempt to reach human contact. The music becomes breezy, and words like "You're the kind of girl I like/ Because you're empty/ And I'm empty" seem more reflective, in a sublime sort of way. Pavement even looks to the music scene for guidance, but apparently can't find it. The twang-ridden alt-country of "Range Life" begins with the hardship of the road. "After the glow, the scene, the stage, the set/ Talk becomes slow, but there's one thing I'll never forget/ 'Hey, you gotta pay your dues, before you pay the rent.'" Then, as Malkmus would describe and write in the Melody Maker (included in the booklet), as "little, petty indie rockers trying to keep bands off our turf," Pavement reflects on the current music scene; "Out on tour with the Smashing Pumpkins," Malkmus' sings, "Nature kids/ I, they don't have no function/ I don't understand what they mean, and I could really give a fuck." The catchy "Cut Your Hair," in between melodic "Ooh Ohh's," attacks the music scene in an equally lighthearted way, laying in a few digs at the constant need to be cool. The album was not perfect on a track-by-track basis, but hell, neither is Revolver, and you're a fool to think otherwise. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and each track works cohesively within the final product. The newly packaged version of CR, CR, subtitled L.A.'s Desert Origins, contains 37 previously unreleased tracks, B-sides, and live sessions (culled from recently departed John Peel's BBC radio show, circa '94) have been added to the mix. While throwaway tracks are here, so are some real gems. In addition, you get a history of a band worthy of being noted, as one of the best to come out of the '90s. |
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—Luke Hackney November 2004 |
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Photo by Marcus Roth
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