Pavement
Brighten The Corners
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Pavement
Brighten The Corners
Matador, 1997
RiYL: Guided By Voices, Liz Phair, Sebadoh, Built To Spill, R.E.M. |
Instead, the reigning sovereigns of indie rock built their kingdom with fractured melodies, structureless songs and vague lyrics. Pavement creates songs by giving glimpses of a scene. It's up to the listener to figure out the big picture.
This still holds true on Brighten The Corners, Pavement's fourth album. Brighten revels in a slightly off-kilter feel, not totally unlike the sound of 1995's fragmented Wowee Zowee.
The album is by no means as revolutionary as 1992's Slanted And Enchanted, nor is it as cohesive as the band's sophomore effort, Crooked Rain Crooked Rain. But Brighten does combine many of the best elements of Pavement's first three full-lengths, creating what might be considered the definitive Pavement album.
The album has a bit of the same-old, same-old, but Pavement has never been predictable, and doesn't start being so here. "Old To Begin'' lurches like a roller coaster weighted down with lead. One never knows where it's going next, but it takes its time getting there. Lead guitarist and singer Steven Malkmus' riffs are arresting, as they take one unexpected turn after another.
The album features many new tricks for a band obviously comfortable with where it is. The first single, "Stereo,'' is the catchiest thing Pavement has written. But unlike so many other instant pop singles, the song doesn't compromise the musical values at Pavement's core (see No Doubt, Green Day, or Blues Traveler for more on compromising values).
Also, Pavement has refined the fine art of building a song to crescendo. "Transport Is Arranged'' begins as a mellotron-driven ballad before building into a power-chord crunching mid-section and back again.
Malkmus is as vague as ever lyrically. Lines such as "if my soul has a shape, well then it is an ellipse" must mean something -- what, exactly, is still the question. But Malkmus is rare among lyricists in that he actually pays attention to what he's writing. For example in "Shady Lane,'' he chants, "oh my God, oh my God, oh my God -- it's everybody's God." It's a turn of a phrase so subtle, most lyricists couldn't catch it.
Pavement's other songwriter, Scott Kannenberg (aka Spiral Stairs) is continuing to evolve as well. "Date With Ikea'' sounds an awful lot like "Kennel District'' off of Wowee Zowee. But Kannenberg's other song on the disc, "Passat Dream,'' moves in a much more interesting direction.
Pavement has always done its own thing. But that thing has always made the band the vanguard of indie rock, drawing many comparisons to early-'80s R.E.M. (It doesn't help that Brighten was co-produced by Mitch Easter, of Murmur and Reckoning fame.)
But with R.E.M., you got the sense the band was trying to affect change in the music industry. Pavement, as stated on its debut, is trying to change the music itself. With Brighten The Corners, Pavement documents its years of work trying to make that change.
PATRICK KASTNER | Affectionately known as Cousin Patty (yes, it's a "Throw Momma From The Train" reference), Patrick Kastner is a designer for the Columbus Post-Dispatch.