Published on Sep 20, 1999
There’s a reason why so many critics gush over Pavement. You can
praise their musicianship, you can awe at their Scrabble-defying
vocabulary and you can certainly see their influence in college
radio this decade. But their biggest claim to critics’ hearts could
be their punkish tendencies.
For years, book-smart, shy English majors had to listen to Toad
The Wet Sprocket or 10,000 Maniacs to hear some of their inner
turmoil turned into music. But those bands may not be able to reach
a person’s emotional depth if that person had their car die, got an
F on their composition paper and had a fight with their signifigant
other in one day. Yes, these people need to scream just as much as
everyone else. And for them,
Slanted And Enchanted does plenty of that.
Song structure and tuned vocals are immediately discarded with
the opening track, “Summer Babe (Winter Version).” Midway through
the track, it seems that the drummer missed the beat almost 30
seconds ago while vocalist/guitarist Stephen Malkmus laughs out
such abstract lyrics as “Minerals, ice deposits/ daily drop off the
first shiny robe.”
Just when the listener is about ready to scoff and say, “Shit, I
can make a record that sounds hopelessly out of tune and sing
off-key,” Pavement nip you with bits of pure musical genius. The
cool guitar riff of “Trigger Cut,” rivals any riff that Boston ever
released that you just can’t get out of your head.
Another poppy ditty, “Two States,” has a memorable chorus. (It’s
even harder to get this song out of my head because one of my
favorite breweries, Free State Brewery out of Lawrence, Kansas,
bears obvious close assimilation to the song title.) But for the
most part,
Slanted And Enchanted is an album in which the listener
almost feels like they have to fit a certain set of qualifications
to enjoy.
Sure, I like to be as well-read as the next guy. “Zurich Is
Stained” is a decent song, but damned if I know what it’s about.
And I appreciate a band who is willing to take their audience on a
wild musical adventure, but some of the ear piercing screams of
Malkmus are sometimes downright annoying.
Trust me, it’s far better for a band to try and challenge
listeners to open their ears and minds a bit more. And
Slanted And Enchanted keeps a repelled listener coming back
more than a few times to try and figure out what all the critical
fuss is over them. But far too many times, people are going to
think that after listening to
Slanted And Enchanted that they haven’t attended nearly
enough college classes.