Albums for February 12. (Part Two of Three)

Pavement: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
[February 12, 1994]

 

Was this a real band? Yes. One of America’s all-time greatest. Wise-ass skate-boarding slackers from Stockton, California made a great first album, then topped it with this. Smack in the middle of the self-important grunge era, these dada rockers took to the studio, cranked it up and proceeded to take their absurdist songs (written by clown king genius of suburbia Stephen Malkmus) and record them as if it were making the last great rock album in the history of mankind. The result? Sloppy mayhem meets overwhelming ambition and transcends all categories. Could they play? Yes. Knd of. They certainly play with conviction. Did it sell? No. Is it a masterpiece? Absolutely. Hilarious and awe-inspiring. This must be what growing up in the wasteland of America in the last decades of the 20th century really sounded like.

Rolling Stone lists it at No. 210 on their "500 Greatest Albums of All Time," for whatever that’s worth.

 

Track listing

All songs listed by Stephen Malkmus unless otherwise noted.

1. "Silence Kid" - What emerges from utter chaos to form a re-written Buddy Holly song? Absolute triumph seizes the day! "Don’t listen to your grandmother’s advice about Ezra."

2. "Elevate Me Later" - "So why you complaining, ta?"

3. "Stop Breathin’" - Pensive guitars to eternity.

4. "Cut Your Hair" - The hit! "Songs mean a lot when songs are bought and so are you." ("Career! Career! Career!")

5. "Newark Wilder" - "Can’t you stuff me?"

6. "Unfair" - "I’m not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash."

7. "Gold Soundz" - "Is it a crisis or a boring change?"

8. "5-4=Unity" - Dave Brubeck meets Abbey Road.

9. "Range Life" - "Out on tour with the Smashing Pumpkins. I don’t understand what they mean and I could really give a fuck." Gorgeous country rock.

10. "Heaven Is a Truck" - Self-explanatory.

11. "Hit the Plane Down" (Scott Kannberg) - Punk rock.

12. "Fillmore Jive" - The big finish. All the wrong chords make it epic. "I need to sleep. Why won’t you let me sleep?" Genius. "Good night to the rock and roll era."

Personnel

Pavement

Stephen Malkmus – vocals, guitar

Scott Kannberg – guitar, backing vocals

Mark Ibold – bass

Steve West – drums, percussion

Bob Nastanovich – percussion

Technical personnel
 Pavement – production

Bryce Goggin – engineer, mixing, piano (9)

Mark Venezia – engineer