Pavement
Crooked Rain Crooked Rain

THE REVIEW

De-base, de-construct, de-regulate rock.

Continuing what in the late ‘80s was the de-basing by the Pixies, and the de-constructing by Sonic Youth, Pavement were probably the band that in the ‘90s most significantly shaped the indie scene, thanks to their deviant attitude and with a series of five phenomenal albums for how they move in and out of the rules of rock.

Crooked Rain Crooked Rain, from 1994, is perhaps the most significant, or maybe the one with the best originality/difficulty ratio... the most beautiful? Who knows.

Surely, compared to the debut Slanted & Enchanted (‘92), Stephen Malkmus and company evolve from the lo-fi chaos and express a sound that is generally calmer and more accessible, yet also more varied and equally 'oblique'; in short, their flair is at its peak of maturity, already at the second step. You can hear it in tracks like the disordered Silence Kit, the carefree Cut Your Hair, and the splendid, ironic Gold Soundz.

What matters most is that in this album the five Californians do not lose (not even in their more recent solo episodes, perhaps) the lo-fi immediacy of the beginnings. Not so much in the dirtiness of the sounds, but in the spontaneity of their way of being. They are laid-back, unpolished, 'slackers'; yet incredibly captivating.