Pavement
Terror Twilight

In the following lines, it will be argued why "Terror Twilight" should be considered, contrary to popular opinion, the best album by Pavement.

Yes, because if, in the previous album, they could sing "We are underused," well, they had only themselves to blame. Why? Because Pavement's albums are like that, full of good ideas, great ideas, what am I saying, genius ideas, often, however, thrown there with a certain carelessness, negligence, indifference and therefore, most of the time, not fully developed.

Instead, starting from the title of the fifth track of this album, "Major Leagues," they seem to declare their intention to play the game of the greats, to take themselves seriously and to want to do things properly. It happens so that all the tracks of "Terror Twilight" are extremely well-crafted and really nothing is left to chance. Thus, even the most intricate whims are fully expressed in a musical rather than a psychological sense.

The first five songs work like a side A from the past, opened and closed by two pieces, "Spit On A Stranger" and the aforementioned "Major Leagues," where Pavement demonstrates, with a bit of salt and pepper, that they can make even the simplest and most catchy pop song appealing and interesting. In between, we find three pieces for three different musical genres, in the wake of the eclecticism that characterizes them: the splendid "Folk Jam," which doesn't make one miss "Range Life," the sophisticated jazz of "You Are The Light," the blues/rock of "Cream Of Gold."

Side B is less linear, also because the transition from one musical genre to another often happens skillfully within the same musical track, such as in "Billie," which alternates a pop verse and a choral refrain, or "Speak See Remember," which starts with a quiet lounge jazz, shifts to cheerful and optimistic pop, and ends in tight and biting hard rock. The other songs are no less interesting, starting from the swing/rock/blues of "Platform Blues" and the delicate lounge pop/jazz of "Ann Don't Cry."

The album ends with the psychedelic "The Hexx," which distantly recalls the arpeggiated progressions of the Beatles' "Dear Prudence" and "I Want You/She's So Heavy," and the amusing pop of "... And Carrot Rope."

Convinced?