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Originally Posted by Severian
Well, I'm glad liking Pavement hasn't become completely a completely forgotten pastime.
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I liked them, then didn't, which I did independent of the zeitgeist which seemed to follow the same trajectory. What happened? Was it all the shockingly mediocre SM albums that took the shine off? Anyway, people do seem to be re-warming, and maybe I am too.
A few days ago I came across some CDs I haven't seen in a decade, two were Slanted and Terror. Slanted was so refreshing. Thanks to computers, every amateur nowadays can make a perfect record, but it takes real skill to play this poorly (mostly thanks to the drummer). This album clearly has staying power.
Terror wasn't as bad as I remembered, but I can go another ten years without hearing it. Didn't the producer do this right after Ok Computer? What a joke. Some pretty moments, but putting a lo-fi band into a hi-fi context seems to bring out the defects and obscure the charms. The lyrics are full-on stupid.
By the way, "Grounded" is vaguely "about" doctors. Beyond that, I can't say what any song is about, which is fine and fun for the "early" stuff, but grow up man. Even by Reckoning, Stipe was starting to actually say something with his words while still giving us the lyrical weirdness we crave. To date, SM hasn't matured past Pavement's very first song.
A special band, because they were at their best when they sucked.