I can't sing it strong enough.

Fillmore Jive

2010-09-21T21:19:00.000-05:00

One night benders - no matter the drug - used to be a ton of fun, but I was never really sure why. You would eventually hit a point where all you want to do is pass out, be left alone, and wake up in your bed as if nothing had happened.

Of course, you know exactly how you arrived at this point. The night was electric. "The jam kids on the Vespas" and all of that. Crowded streets. Even more crowded bars or house parties. You felt alive. You grabbed the bottle for another swig, a pill there, a toke here. The night was going to be memorable one way or the other.

Then, it all hit you like a ton of bricks. You shouldn't have had that last drink or eaten that mushroom. This rock 'n roll lifestyle is old and not really that rewarding. So, you want out. You wanted to pass out on the couch.

Maybe you did pass out on the couch or in the kitchen or by the toilet or in the back of a car. No matter. If you could have just laid there with no distractions, you could have slept it off.

However, this was the night that would never end. Some late-comers entered with fresh cases of beer, a bag of weed, and some blow. You probably couldn't pick yourself up to join them at that moment, but you also couldn't drag yourself out of the room. You weren't just fucked, you were fucked and had to suffer while these douche-bags turned up the stereo and started the whole night over for you.

At this point in the evening (or morning) the room was spinning and you had lost complete and utter control. At best, you eventually passed out and snuck in a couple hours of sleep before slipping out without anyone noticing. At worst, and most likely, you puked all over the place. Someone cleaned you up and arranged for a ride home. Hopefully, you were just able to sleep in your own bed.

That's the Fillmore Jive.

Gold Soundz

2010-07-27T07:47:00.000-05:00

"Gold Soundz" is a relationship song. The relationship is new and fun in the beginning. He trusts her with secrets and likes how she laughs at the ignorance of others. He gives her space, but he likes that she's empty like him, etc.

Alas, it can't last. Remembering past transgressions drums up some hurt feelings, possibly even revealing new deceptions. There's a quick about-face. Secrets are taken back.

Luckily, it's a young love. The kind that's fleeting. The affairs that last a summer or a semester. The memories and experience are worth it if for nothing else other than the short-lived passions.

-----------------------------

A couple of other thoughts...

Does SM sing "that I won't eat you when I'm gone" or does he sing "need" where "eat" goes? Eat doesn't make much sense. Need makes a ton of sense. However, it certainly sounds like he says "eat" in either a nonsensical manner or crass one. I sort of suspect the lyric is meant to be "need" and Malk plays around a little in the studio and changes it to "eat".

The phrase "quarantine the past" appears in this track. Interestingly, it's also the title of the band's greatest "hits" collection released earlier this year. The implication is that the collection attempts to quarantine the past, but in actuality, one can't quarantine Pavement's past, at least not from the alt rock reunion circuit.

OK. Make it three thoughts. The accompanying video is absurd. The band in Santa costumes go bow hunting for a dead chicken in an outdoor shopping center in order to gain the keys to a convertible...Well, you just have to watch it.

In the Mouth a Desert

2010-07-26T19:38:00.000-05:00

Why bother to enter into a relationship? It will just end. There will be sadness and heartache. Why even begin?

Such is the philosophy of "In a Mouth a Desert". Of course, looking back with those 20/20 goggles. one can't help but apply this song's message to the band itself. The band (we) always knew it wouldn't last. Stephen Malkmus was too good to be held back by the rest of his band mates.

Well, they did make it last. Pavement went on to record four more albums after Slanted and Enchanted and have now successfully sought out a reunion tour. For both, we are grateful.

Can you treat like an oil well?
When it's underground, out of sight?
And if the sight is just a whore sign,
Can it make enough sense to me?

Sometimes it's cool to get into a relationship as long as no one knows about it. Of course, the best part of being in a relationship is that everyone knows about it. So, is the relationship worth the investment just to hide it? Does this even make sense?

"In the Mouth a Desert" continues on with references to trust and commitment, using analogies of knots, twine, and faith. Of course, as any believer of entropy would attest, these relationships falter and unravel over time. In this track, the unraveling appears to be one-sided as one half (or even one-fifth) of the relationship has doubts that the other parts are equal to his.

I've been crowned the king of it and it's all that we have
So, wait to hear my words and they're diamond sharp
I can open it up and it's up and down

In the band's relationship, the "king of it" is Stephen Malkmus. His songs are what made Pavement possible and lasting. Sure, it was always a group effort, but without SM's vision of the "Pavement sound" and ability to create the oddest hooks, there would have been no Pavement. It was never an equal relationship.

Of course, these were SM's friends. And even from the beginning of the band's run, it was apparent SM would struggle with his loyalties versus his ambitions...

I've been down, the king of it and it's all that we have
I've been down and I could wait to hear the words
They're diamond sharp today

I always suspect that SM's friendships with the rest of Pavement is what kept them together for so long and possibly fueled the reunion. Malk didn't want to be the center of attention. He wanted his friends to be able to play the parts as he envisioned them. On the same token, the rest of the band could see their limitations and didn't want to hold SM back. The inequality happened as it became apparent the other four members didn't have the chops to take Pavement to another level, to Malk's level.

A lot happens after "In the Mouth...", but the words are prophetic, even if they weren't intended that way.

Frontwards

2010-02-11T06:10:00.000-06:00

Well, I've got style
Miles and miles
So much style that it's wasted

Where is style most wasted? Where is individualism crushed? A place with empty homes and plastic cones. Kids sitting on the curb at the 7-11 smoking the cigarettes they stole from their mother's purse. Discussions revolve around stolen hub caps and an endless dance around revealing anything real or personal. Patterns of generations broken in hopes continuing in a sterile, benign environment, free of crime (aside from stolen rims) and worry. A place where the biggest concern is the nightly weather report.

Yep. I'm talking about the suburbs. Any distinction between families, homes, personalities is squelched in the conformity of good schools, tract housing, and SUV's.

Unbeknown to those who escaped to the suburbs is how it kills their kids. Such a white-washed existence is absent any inspiration. Bored suburban kids make do with whatever they can get their hands and their parents' disposable incomes on in hopes of filling that creative void. There's a reason why you can get way more drugs in communities with street named for the trees they've cut down. Petty theft and date rape fills their time as they wait to become their parents.

Conversely, some of those kids use these dire situations as inspiration to get out, mentally and spiritually if not physically. They write or learn to play guitar. Some of them form bands and make a living at that. Thankfully, Stephen Malkmus and Scott Kannberg hopped off their skateboards and returned from their studies out of state record a few songs.

Speak, See, Remember

2010-01-20T20:27:00.000-06:00

Breaking up is hard to do. You avoid it. You try to paint the breakup as a chance for new opportunities. No matter how you dance around it, it's inevitable. It will suck for one or both of you. There are no such things as good breakups.

Pavement had their breakup over Terror Twilight. Sure, there was a tour following, but it was a goodbye tour and TT was their goodbye album. I don't know how it affected the band members, but I know it was rough on the fans.

To cope, we turned to the things that got us through. We remembered the good times. We focused on future opportunities to make the best of these hard times. Pavement opened us up to many new bands. The breakup would at least leave us with a better perspective on the music landscape than we had before Pavement.

That and we waited for the reunion.

We've talked about this reunion for years, at least since the Pixies reunited (the first time). Soon, we'll see Pavement at Lollapalooza, in Central Park, at Coachella, or wherever they land. Then, we'll remember what those days in the mid-nineties were like.

"Speak, See, Remember" may not have intentionally been about Pavement's breakup, but it was about a breakup in a general sense. The album's title is mentioned. "Terror twilight" has been described as that ominous moment right before the sun sets. This track may very well have been that ghastly moment. Luckily, SM is there to assure us that it will be OK. I mean, he had a new album out in just over 18 months.

Grounded

2009-08-25T22:00:00.000-05:00

The rumors of this blog's death have been greatly exaggerated.

A friend popped up on Twitter this evening and suggested that "Grounded" is "[T]he soundtrack to the perfect dusk drive. Windows down, natch..." I couldn't agree more.

This song makes me want to swerve back and forth on a lonely country road, crickets chirping, a warm breeze in my face...

The life of a doctor is so slow, so mundane. He goes through his days like any working other working stiff, except he holds someone's life in his hands. If you make a mistake at your job, your workplace loses some money or a client. A doctor fucks up and someone's dead.

But it's a business. The doctor comes in to work everyday. At the end of the day, he calls home and drives off in his sedan. His day ends when he leaves the hospital.

Funny how this song came to my attention at the height of the health care reform in this country. Folks arguing over letting the government take care of our health needs or to just allow things to stay as they are. I won't take sides here. The fact is that people are suffering, even dying while we figure this mess out.

It's a business. There will be profits and there will be losses. Boys are dying on these streets.

Painted Soldiers

2009-02-13T14:08:00.000-06:00

If Spiral Stairs, aka Scott Kannberg, had written this post-Pavement, one could easily make the argument that the song's about Stephen Malkmus. It's no secret that Malkmus ruled the roost when he fronted Pavement. SM dominated the songwriting duties throughout the catalog. Kannberg, the other songwriter in Pavement, was relegated to the occasional track and soundtrack submission.

The opening line explains Kannberg's place in the band perfectly: "That's all you're singing now?" Spiral Stairs contributed very little to the Pavement oeuvre, but as this song demonstrates, it wasn't due to his inability to write a good song.

From there, you get the feeling that the song is a tongue-in-cheek jab at SM and his perceived ego. Kannberg wonders aloud why "he" has to be so mean and hurtful. Then, he takes his own shot at the antagonist: "I knew he liked to talk about himself/but he wanted the whole world to know./It made me sick inside/I just gotta hold back."

However good "Painted Soldiers" is or where it ranks on your all-time best Pavement tracks list, it is hard to deny its eerie resemblance to several of SM's best songs. The woohoo-hoos alone remind me of "Cut Your Hair" and the dead-pan delivery is quintessential SM.

The video is classic. Kannberg fires the rest of the band and inserts Veruca Salt as the new Pavement. Highlights of the video include: Nasty at the horse track, Mark Ibold as a pimp, Steve West at home with his 10+ children, and SM in his Mustang with built-in fax machine.

Old to Begin

2008-12-14T07:06:00.000-06:00

At first listen, I take "Old to Begin" as a warning to a younger lover to back off in case she doesn't want to stagnate. Then, I sort of feel as though the idea of "old" in this song has more to do with that stagnation than a May-December romance. Besides, how many Pavement songs are actually about romance?

There always seems to be some celebrated old (white) guy coming up with "new" ways of doing the same, old thing. Just as Al Gore invented the internets, these guys claim everything as their own, thinking that it makes them young and vibrant again to "reinvent the wheel." Meanwhile, they ignore the accomplishments of those who did all the work and really just come off as pompous blowhards stealing yet another idea. Then, we're all supposed to marvel at how great these men are.

It doesn't matter to these re-inventors that their ignorance of true ingenuity sets us all back a few years while they catch up. Their self-importance and legacy depend on their name being attached to someone else's invention.

In the end, their legacy is a fraud. All these men are left with are excuses and a gaping hole in their narratives.

Conduit for Sale

2008-12-04T22:06:00.000-06:00

There is no other Pavement song that annoyed the women in my life more than "Conduit for Sale." That's OK. I love this song. Angry, like that feeling one gets when something is taken away.

The House of Savoy ruled a chunk of Italy for a long, long time. It was not a happy day when the heir proctor had to give in to interests from France and the Italian nationalist movement. Unless I have butchered the history, it seems to me that the conduit for sale was the road through Turin, possibly to the port of Nice. There was also some strange love triangles involving a guy named Ray, but I could be mistaken.

Either way, you should know that SM likes his history. There's a little history to this song that I don't have time to learn from Wikipedia or share with you through this post. It does make me think "Embassy Row" is somehow connected, but that's a post for another day.

What you should know about "Conduit..." is that it is an angry punk rock romp with a smart undercurrent. Listen...

Pavement-conduit for sale (live san diego)
by jar0

Curt Your Hair

2008-10-06T07:39:00.000-05:00

If Pavement ever had a "hit," this was it. "Cut Your Hair" was Buzzworthy on MTV and even received decent radio play from commercial stations. If there was a quintessential Pavement song, I'd also argue that "Cut Your Hair" earns that title as well. Honestly, this was the song that introduced me to the band.

Lyrically, the song is on the silly side, but there is an underlying punk ethos there that drives the sentiment home. Pavement was coming along at a time when underground bands were being scooped up and marketed to the masses. Lost was any of the energy or originality that made these bands so sought after by the majors in the first place. Pavement saw this going on around them and responded in song.

Each of the three verses address a movement away from music toward image. The first verse comes across as harmless, but it addresses image over content in the form of a haircut, the song's main theme. The haircut won't suddenly make a mediocre band great or a crummy album go platinum. However, tell that to all the bands posing as "emo" nowadays. Emo bands used to look like the guys in Pavement, not dudes with black eye make-up and silly haircuts.

The second verse becomes clearer as it addresses the over-saturation of bands to the market. Of course, the dilution of good music through the overabundance of bands has only worsened over the years, but the early nineties was the beginning. Another great song from the era that addresses this issue is Archers of Loaf's "Greatest of All-Time."

The third verse comes with a full-on attack on sell-outs. Buying songs and legitimacy is bashed. Image is pummeled by superior songwriting while the song unravels into rants of careerism. ("Career, career, Korea...")

Besides being one of Pavement's catchiest tunes, it is higlighted by several aesthetics that make it so memorable. First of all, the whoo-ooh-ooh's that fill the space between the verses are as memorable, if not more, than the lyrics or music or band itself. Also earmarking the song as a significant part of the ouvre, the guitar solo winds and whirls out of control, clearly setting Pavement apart from the hair-metal wannabe's of the grunge era. Finally, the song had a string of lines about drummers that either referenced those who hit the skins for Spinal Tap or former drummer, Gary Young.

The song has had an extra emotional tie for me as of late. My daughter, Lucia, was born three weeks ago, and this seems to be her favorite song...so far. Or at least my slower, twangier version sooths her like no other mid-nineties song I sing to her.

Two States

2008-08-12T09:52:00.000-05:00

According to Wikipedia, there have been 27 separate attempts to split California into multiple states since 1850, the year California earned statehood. Most of these actions attempted to split the state in half, dividing the Golden State between the north and south.

Two states!
We want two states!
North and south
Two, two states

A couple of times, the northern portions of the state were nearly renamed the Colorado, either as a territory or another state entirely. Portions of other states were also considered in California secession plans, like Oregon and Arizona. Mountain Ranges were often considered when determining where to draw the borders. In the late 19th century, the building of the Ridge Route as a way to cross the Tehachapi Mountains helped thwart talk of splitting the state.

The last attempt to split the state came in 1992. State Senator Stan Statham was able to pass a proposal in the House to put the issue of state secession on the ballot in 58 counties. The proposal didn't survive the Senate.

Forty million daggers
Two states
We want two states
There's no culture
There's no spies

When one travels to California, it becomes rather apparent that the state is already very divided. The southern portion is sunny and generally very conservative, especially in Orange County. The north has the very liberal bay area and touches California's hippie cousin, Oregon. The temperatures also tend to be cooler and rainier than the south.

Date w/ IKEA

2008-08-06T21:37:00.000-05:00

Jingle-jangle goes the opening guitar chords of "Date w/IKEA," one of two contributions by Scott Kannberg to Brighten the Corners. This might be the poppiest song Spiral Stairs ever wrote. It's certainly the jangliest.

This was something new for Kannberg. He was generally shut out in previous Pavement albums. He'd fool around on the guitar before the band met to record, and Malkmus would show up with demos and nearly complete songs ready to go. Kannberg came prepared to the BtC sessions with some songs ready for production. Of course, by this time, it was Malkmus' show. Kannberg was somehow able to sneak in two songs. This was one of them.

Even though he was unable to contribute many songs to the catalog, Pavement was good to Kannberg. Much like the situation he describes in the song, Kannberg realized he needed to stay around and stick it out. The song specifically describes a guy staying with his overly dramatic girlfriend despite her wild outbursts. He just joins her on a trip to IKEA for some new furniture when things go awry. It's easier that way.

The jangle mentioned before is something different for the band. The pep of the song actually picks up the album full of mid-tempo SM laments. This track, as well as "Passat Dream," kept BtC from wallowing in the mid-tempo mire. These songs gave the album some balance, cementing Kannberg's value to the band as a secondary songwriter.

Newark Wilder

2008-08-05T07:28:00.000-05:00

Cryptic is a love song for polygamists. Malkmus begins the story with a passionate courtship. A brand new era is about to commence for our hero. However, there's the sticky situation with the spouse already in place and not willing to give up her partner...

She won't let you know that I need a right to touch her
She won't let you wait for me
For me to touch you

A once happy marriage is tangled in the mire of a threesome and possible divorce.

Crowds of the people and voices and steeples and wedding rings
Wild are the horses and break-up divorces and separate rooms from

In the end, compromise is found. The first wife keeps the new one hidden, cut out of pictures. The man's needs are met. He's satisfied.

Three of us is enough.

The song, despite the strange, jazzy rhythms, would fit nicely in an episode of Big Love. Its groove is sleepy, almost lazy, but it fills in the slot right behind the radio-ready poppiness of "Cut Your Hair" just before it leads into the raucous "Unfair." "Newark Wilder" is the perfect segue on a perfect album.

Black Out

2008-07-08T16:59:00.000-05:00

The saying "Ignorance is bliss" holds a lot of truth. If you're not aware that anything is wrong, about what you have to worry? If you're in the dark, you don't see imperfections.

Take a hole-in-the-wall bar for instance. The lights are mostly turned off. The only thing you're thinking about is getting plowed and hooking up with the young lady next to you. Then the bartender turns on the light and tells everyone to go home. You look around and see that this dingy little place is not where you want to spend the rest of your evening. The woman you were just chatting up doesn't look so great either. (She's probably thinking the same thing about you.)

Ignorance truly is bliss. There is no worrying about the world if you're not aware it has any problems. It's almost freeing to be so worry-free.

Though it's ultra-cryptic, "Black Out" plays with this idea. After rather confusing verses, Malkmus repeats, "No one has a clue." And the song closes with the repeated lines of "fun fun fun, fun for the summertime blues" and "it's gonna set you free."

What could ever have Pavement so carefree, without worldly worry? Pot. It's been well-documented that band succumbed to a lot of pot smoking during the recording of Wowee Zowee, and "Black Out" does little to dispel this fact.

(Crappy live footage of "Black Out")

You Are a Light

2008-07-03T07:10:00.000-05:00

"You Are a Light" is a love song. Pavement is not known for too many love songs, but this is certainly one, and the song is as Pavement a love song as there is.

The first verse describes a life in chaos. Anxiety is abundant thanks to our impending dependency on technology. (It was recorded in 1999.) The technology frustrates and confuses, making a return to the good old days and suicide our only options. At least SM has his light or to whomever he's singing.

Another scenario is described in the second verse where SM finds himself studying abroad, in Spain. Silly American/middle-class phobias of gypsy children and mortuary feasting consume him. Luckily, he has his love to shine the light to lead him home.

Things get downright sexual as the third verse begins. References to driving sticks and a lot of hollering close out the song.

SM repeats that he is "the isolator." An isolator is usually a switch that does what its name suggests: it isolates electrical current. The current in this case could be fro his light or in hopes of powering his light. Either way, this is as passionate as the usually monotone singer gets.

The music of the song is easy and jazzy through the first two verses, but rocks and breaks out after the second chorus with a typical Pavement-esque solo. This switch in intensity is carried into the third verse. Overall, besides the jazzy undertones, the arrangement is rather minimalist. The simplicity of the band's performance is augmented by various blips and electronic flourishes here and there, never more clearly heard than at the very end.

(Th performance below contains alternate lyrics from the track I reviewed. SM was known to mess with lyrics now and again.)

No Life Singed Her

2008-06-25T01:08:00.000-05:00

Every band writes about mortality at some point. Zeppelin had "Stairway to Heaven", and Blue Oyster Cult had "(Don't Fear) the Reaper". However, as with most Pavement tracks, "No Life Singed Her" takes a totally different angle than the traditional mortality song.

First of all, there's this laissez faire attitude about the final hours. Then there's the imagery of slicing up a symbol of faith. Now the angel won't have to suffer from life the way we do. Eventually, we just float up to heaven or wherever we go, and that's it.

The song itself is way more acidic than that. SM's screaming and the harsh tones of the guitars make it a much more abrasive song than the lyrics or choral delivery would suggest.

But maybe that's life. We do what we want with our time, despite its fragility and value. Our faith is cut down time and time again. Before long, we accept death and move on.

(Sorry for the silly video, but it did have the track in question.)

Spizzle Trunk

2008-05-14T06:55:00.000-05:00

An old school punk rocker measuring just over one minute and complete with unintelligible lyrics and piano banging, "Spizzle Trunk" demonstrates the inner-rocker within Stephen Malkmus. SM would go on to a solo career where he'd experiment with a similar aesthetic in his live shows...and throughout his most recent album, sans the youthful punk ethos.

The spizzle is for the sound. The trunk describes the curmudgeon.

The lyrics describe a middle-aged man living a miserable life with his cat and his detestable neighbors, family, and friends. You can picture the grump sitting at the kitchen table, shoveling cornflakes down his throat just before he sneezes them out his nose. He's got male-pattern baldness and nasty disposition.

"Spizzle Trunk" is punk rock for the balding, forty-year-old grump in all of us.

Elevate Me Later

2008-03-31T21:19:00.000-05:00

The Left is a mess. I'm talking about the left of the political spectrum, the Left Coast, whatever else is left. I don't know that SM was speaking directly to the problems of anything "left", but I do get the sense that's the resulting message of "Elevate Me Later".

Somewhere it's written that Crooked Rain Crooked Rain is Pavement's Hotel California, hence the never-ending Cali references and that sunny, SoCal sound made so famous by the Eagles. Of course, SM and Spiral Stairs grew up in the depressingly NoCal town they forgot to name (Stockton). So, maybe that's why they're somewhat critical of the "The Golden State".

California's reputation as leftist or the "Left Coast" only makes it the perfect locale for ridicule. Political correctness sometimes goes overboard on the political left where the so-called right stays the course and takes down a road from which we might never return. Look at the Democratic primary. Two minority candidates beat up each other over who will best represent the left while the old white guy on the right sits back and waits patiently.

I don't think Pavement is/was anti-left. I just think they, like many progressive thinkers grow weary of the constant battles that occur within the ranks of liberal, leftist, whatever thinkers. Instead of finding answers, the left continues to tear itself down with hypocrisy and a fastidious intolerance of ideas that veer in other directions. California embodies this sentiment with its hippies, punks, and wannabe actors and all the ways in which they miss the point.

Shady Lane

2008-02-12T10:54:00.000-06:00

"A shady lane/Everybody wants one"

"A shady lane/Everybody needs one"

All we ever want is a shady lane, right? No matter the complexities or difficulties in our lives, all we really want is an ideal home, independent of the world's troubles.

A shady lane is a metaphor for the ideal life. Imagine a perfect, tree-lined neighborhood with kids on bikes and dogs barking. The white picket fences separate the homes while neighbors mow their lawns or enjoy a glass of lemonade on their front porch. The street is possibly even named "Shady Lane".

Of course, this neighborhood is only ideal if we ignore the racist across the street, the Bible-thumping lady next door, and the child-molester on the corner. But it looks pleasant and serene, doesn't it?

While literally this may not be everyone's (or even SM's) ideal life, but it's the iconic, stereotypical one that is perpetuated in popular culture, especially here in the states. The point is that the metaphor of the perfectly peaceful existence is there for all of us. Whether it's Shady Lane, Missoula, or Williamsburg, we all have a place we would like to live that is free of the problems of the world.

"The worlds collide, but all that I want is a shady lane."

Trigger Cut/Wounded-Kite At :17

2008-02-05T17:44:00.000-06:00

"Trigger Cut/Wounded-Kite At :17" begins with an ominous tone much like a scene in a horror film.

The process a filmmaker undergoes when piecing together a narrative is chronicled in this Pavement cut. With every scene and edit, the filmmaker considers the conflict (lies and betrayals), striking images (fruit-covered nails), and urgency (electricity and lust...). And in creating the film, truth and success are discovered.

The wounded kite scene (possible a play on Wounded Knee) is that piece about 28 seconds left in the track that seems to come from nowhere. I figure that the kite begins to tear and finally tumble to the ground around the 17th second.

Rattled by the Rush

2008-02-04T22:30:00.000-06:00

We get shaken or rattled in so many situations. Do we like it? Do we dread it? Do we feed off of it? All of the above.

The rush of being questioned, performing physical feets, or being in awkward situations rattles our inner-souls. We lose ourselves for a moment. The excitement leaves us disoriented.

It's like how you used to wrestle with your dad or an older sibling. You could never win. Your dad was too big, too strong, but he was sure not to hurt you. Something about this fruitless, physical activity arouses you. You then find yourself a little out of it, almost dizzy.

"Rattled by the Rush" places the classic rock tendancies of their later material within the herky jerky, laisez-faire jamminess of mid-nineties Pavement. The song demonstrates quintisential Stephen Malkmus' vocal stylings. He slides easily from deadpan smartass to squealing troubadour and somewhere in between. Aside from SM's singing, it's also one of the most ambitious guitar performances that ranges from the aforementioned classic rockiness to a looser, sloppier.

The song is as Pavement-y as it gets.

The Hexx

2007-12-15T09:34:00.000-06:00

A hex (with one x) can stand for a couple of things. The first is the idea of a curse or spell that is placed on an individual or family by a witch. This can explain the lyrics of Pavement's "The Hexx".

The song carries on the theme of Terror Twilight of an impending doom. As stated many times in this here blog, the last Pavement record served notice that the band's run had come to an end, but that's getting redundant.

Malkmus describes various situations in which his subjects suffer from hexes of their own. Capistrano swallows that are supposed to return to their San Juan home, suddenly can't. Epileptic surgeons and fooled football players prepare as their failures are close at hand. One of the greatest Malk-metaphors demonstrates this point further.

Architecture students are like virgins with an itch they cannot scratch,
Never build a building till you're 50; what kind of life is that?

The 70's atmospherics support the gloom and doom of a hexed life. Bluesy guitar solos and wailing in the background set the mood of the track. One can picture a movie scene in which the protagonist is stumbling through a crowded hallway, intoxicated on some mind-altering substance, and dazed by his own failures as this music plays, drowning out the chaos around.

The other meaning to hex comes from a hexadecimal or a base-16 numbering system. Coincidentally, the song arguably has sixteen lines: five verses of two-lines each and a six-line chorus. Again, it's probably just a coincidence.

You're Killing Me

2007-12-15T09:06:00.000-06:00

Fuzz and spit is how the opening and background of "You're Killing Me" might be described, the first track on the first release of the Pavement discography, Slay Tracks (1933-1969). The highly experimental and lo-fi (read "cheap") production value helped catapult Pavement to indie darlings, and they never looked back.

The song's noisy hiss, lack of percussion, and simple, repetitive lyrics made the song a tribute to the band's punk ethos. While so much of Pavement's later work appealed to the listener's intellect, this song had a guttural feel lacking once the band signed with Matador. However, the same sentiment can be found in songs like "Conduit for Sale" or "Fight this Generation".

Interestingly, some of the lyrics were the moniker for one of the earliest Pavement fan-sites, The Sign on the Door.

Unseen Power of the Picket Fence

2007-12-01T08:17:00.000-06:00

"There's some bands I'd like to name-check/And one of them is REM."

And so begins Pavement's contribution to the alterna-compilation benefiting AIDS research and education, No Alternative. This homage to REM, the Athens-based band that made college rock mainstream, pays tribute to the band's influence on Pavement. Like any dedicated fan, SM describes both what made REM important (left standing after Sherman rapes the South) and disappointing ("Time After Time" was my least favorite song...). SM offers a song-by-song audit of REM's best (and earliest) work while relating the band's cultural significance to a fallen and broken South.

Some reporters asked REM front man Michael Stipe what he thought of the Pavement track. He was insulted they didn't like "Time After Time" but he was honored to be name-checked by such up-and-coming indie band. According to indie rock lore, Stipe suggested that the band could play the song as if serenading him on an MTV special featuring the songs, bands and issues of the compilation. Pavement declined.

Spit on a Stranger

2007-11-14T14:48:00.000-06:00

The spacey psychedelia of "Spit on a Stranger" opens up 1999's Terror Twilight, the final Pavement record, and listeners were bound to notice the change in the band's sound. The song's (and album's) first few seconds of drum beats almost start a different song altogether before warped guitar lines and a hippie-dippy bass line carry us to the first verse.

The song is a reflection on the band's long, tenuous relationship. This, in conjunction with the album's title referring to that eerie moment just as the sun sets, describes the strange feeling the one gets as the end approaches. You feel the end of the band as the record progresses.

The idea of "spit on a stranger" is an odd and cryptic one. (Of course, this is Pavement.) Just as the band's breakup (hell, their whole career) was awkward, spitting on a stranger can be just as strange. It's similar to accidentally grazing some one's rear or turning to make a comment to what you thought was your companion only to find a complete stranger standing there.

Starlings of the Slipstream

2007-10-26T12:27:00.000-05:00

A slipstream is that area behind something moving through fluid (air, water, etc.) where the pressure is reduced. It's sort like when you wave your hand through water and there's this absence of liquid in your wake. Birds, like the starling, travel in flocks that help create these slipstreams. Mostly we think of geese flying in a V formation, but some birds just fly in a tight flock for the same effect.

The absence of pressure in this slipstream is the primary focus of this Pavement song. Think of the band as the starling. Pavement came along after many bands and indie labels cut a path through the music industry to make room for more eccentric, artistic styles. Bands in the early to mid-nineties were relieved from the pressure of selling millions of records, because a market had been created that allowed many musicians to quit their day jobs, release some records on Matador, and hit the road. I, for one, am thankful for this slipstream.

Pressure tends to ruin anything that's enjoyable or stimulating, not always, but often. The fact that Pavement could make interesting, timeless music and make money doing it, is a testament to this slipstream in the music scene.

The song doesn't have to be about indie rock, but it's one example. As people break from conventionality and do for themselves, the space they create becomes their own slipstream. I look at blogging, documentary film making, half of Portland and realize people all over are creating their own slipstreams. I know it's cheesy, but sometimes just the idea that we have some agency to do and create what we like makes me feel better.

One more thing...Does anyone else conjure up an image of Revenge of the Nerds during the second verse? (I put a spy-cam in a sorority/Ah-oo darlings on the split-screen)

Summer Babe

2007-10-16T12:31:00.000-05:00

One of Rolling Stone's 500 greatest songs, "Summer Babe" leads with an ode to Vanilla Ice's "Ice Baby" and continues with some of the most absurd lyrics ever put to tape. Eating her fingers? Mixing cocktails with a cigar? What's a protein delta strip?

The absurdity of SM's lyrics are only augmented by the tune's acidic guitar solos and outbursts. Even more ridiculous is the conventionally steady beat with high-hat accents and equally regular bass line. The only things the song is missing is some falsetto chorus lines and off-tune trumpet flourishes.

Thankfully, Pavement doesn't go overboard. The band creates a perfect pop song out of a playfulness missing from so much pop music over the past decade-and-a-half. The lo-fi production helps maintain the band's indie cred while the dramatics of drum play and SM's long note near the end make the song an epic piece to the indie rock canon.

"Summer Babe" was originally released as a 7" before appearing on Westing (by Musket and Sextant) and opening Slanted and Enchanted (as the "winter version"). Later, a live version was released on the re-issue of S&E. I only wish they'd release it again so that more people can understand what challenging, thoughtful music should feel like.

Stop Breathin'

2007-10-08T12:20:00.000-05:00

I always thought this song was about a poor soldier coming to his end while fighting in the trenches of World War I, then someone suggested that it had more to do with losing a tennis match. Now, I don't know what to think.

That first volley could be a bombardment from the enemy that leaves our hero's corps depleted and running for cover. The protagonist does not make it out, but is somewhat thankful to not have to deal with the endless rounds of artillery dropped on his position. He's given up as he feels his life fading. The song even has this lullaby feel as if to see the dieing soldier is drifting off for the last time.

Then, suddenly he fights the medics as they struggle to keep lead character alive. He doesn't want to go on; he wants it to be over.

The other theory is that it's a similarly slow death only this time it's a tennis star losing an important match. He's tired of the endless play. He wishes his defeat would just come already. After he loses his final match, like the soldier, he will be forgotten, left alone to live out his days without the pressures of a professional tennis career to weigh on his conscience.

Either way, the protagonist just wants to be left alone to wallow in his own misery.

Ann Don't Cry

2007-09-27T23:56:00.000-05:00

Pavement rarely recorded a straight-forward break-up song, but "Ann Don't Cry" is as close as they came (outside of "Here"). The song is a veiled metaphor for another metaphor of the band's reality. Let me explain...

The song uses the metaphor of dying in a hospital to depict a slow, bitter-sweet breakup. With references to damage being done, "hope in a wonderful hospital man", and rooms with very little...uh...room, SM eludes to a breakup that was avoided but now must be dealt with. Is Ann crying because she's ill or is the relationship finally coming to an end?

The breakup feels like the end of the band. Again, damage had been done. SM (as were a few other band mates) was not having fun in Pavement anymore. Were the five friends the members of Pavement? I don't know if this is what SM was thinking, but it sure feels like it. This was a farewell album, and "Ann Don't Cry" might be the farewell song.

The tone and instrumentation of the song supports these theories. SM's vocals are not only sad but as disappointing as always. I don't mean that literally; it's just how I've always thought about his vocal styling. The depressing tempo and steady beat repeat until the sad little song ends.

Silence Kit

2007-09-18T11:39:00.000-05:00

I remember being on an early version of a Pavement list serve. There was a long debate over "Silence Kit" and whether "kit" was actually "kid" and whether that kid was male or female. Quite pointless, actually. It's about as pointless as some guy blogging every other week about the meaning of Pavement songs.

For me (and probably a few others out there), the song is a farewell to Pavement's former drummer, Gary Young. From what I've read about Young, he was a nuisance, an amusing distraction, and a necessary evil rolled into one hand-standing anomaly. Although, many seem to prefer his drumming over the rest of Pavement's drummers, it was undeniable that Young was a loose canon while performing on tour. He often consumed too many chemicals, ruined performances by tossing cabbage at the audience, and pulled guns on band mates. All of this tomfoolery - and the fact Young couldn't keep time - contributed to his being dismissed prior to the release of Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain.

The song opens with an awkward guitar solo, backed by flourishes of drumming. One cannot help but notice the perpetual cow bell in the background. Soon, SM breaks in, out of tune as always.

The band's frustration with their former drummer comes through in the lyrics. They didn't want to babysit an immature, burnt-out punk that was a moderate-at-best musician and a mess on stage. Young obviously had a load of baggage that the other band members did not have time for. In the final verse, SM calls for the kit while Young saunters off to masturbate in an ecstasy-fueled state.

Gary Young later became known as "Plantman" thanks to a forgettable post-Pavement effort. I wonder whatever happened to Pavement's original drummer...

Easily Fooled

2007-09-04T18:47:00.000-05:00

A b-side to the "Rattled By The Rush" (aka "Rattled By La Rush") song has been running through my head, lately. "Easily Fooled" is this jammy piece of happy that found its way onto La Rush's backside as well as the comprehensive Wowee Zowee re-issue, Sordid Sentinels. On the latter, the song appears twice: once as the original recording and then as a live recording in Holland.

Waiting for life to accidentally get better is what's fooling us all. It's like all those guys in line at your gas station, waiting patiently for that one lottery ticket that will be their salvation, when, all along, they could've saved all the money they spent on lotto tickets to buy that Hummer they've been eying. Your girlfriend will get better looking, if you wait long enough. Your band will be on MTV and headline Lollapalooza if you just wait for it. I could go on and on, but I'm sure you get the point.

This great wait is the same thing that keeps most of us spinning our wheels, waiting for that American dream or some shit like that to come to fruition. It's what makes the working poor vote for conservative politicians in hopes of the trickle down to take effect. People continually take out more and more credit with a plan to pay it off later when their ship comes in. How foolish. That ship will never come.

The song's head-bobbing jamminess bridges the band's material between their final three albums. The off-kilter, stoned performance demonstrates WZ-era Pavement to a T. This song would have fit perfectly with "We Dance" and "Rattled By The Rush" if the rest of WZ stuck with this folky aesthetic. The lyrics suit the clarity and dominant theme of alienation found on the next release, Brighten the Corners. (I'm thinking "We Are Underused" and "Fin".) Pavement's third album was their most accessible and Dead-invoking which is where this song seems to be headed. I can't think of one career-spanning song in Pavement's catalog, but "Easily Fooled" does the second half of their tenure great justice.

I've always had this feeling that Pavement's greatness would be realized by the masses, but I guess I too was easily fooled.
Pavement – Easily Fooled

Box Elder

2007-08-30T11:17:00.000-05:00

When I told my brother that we were moving to Misery, he responded, "You'll have to find Box Elder." Sadly, I don't think Box Elder, MO exists. And if it did, I'm not sure that's really where SM and the boys intended to go.

Even if they didn't actually want to go to Misery, "Box Elder" perfectly encapsulates the feeling of being young and bored with your surroundings, so much that you just want "to get the fuck out of this town."

The is a narrative describing the last conversation with a girlfriend as a guy realizes he has to leave his little town and its dull comfort. It has little to do with the other person in the room and more to do with that "distant voice" calling the protagonist to leave. He has other things to do and places to go. If he stays in this old, familiar setting, he'll burst. His mind wanders as he finally decides to skip town. The Box Elder part might just be the irony of heading to another crappy small town. Who knows?

Recorded in Gary Young's home "studio", the band began its humble career with this clever, 2-and-half-minute ditty. The production is lo-fi and scrappy. The guitars jingle and jangle over feedback and Gary Young's steady beats carry you out of town. This song was among the first ever recorded in Pavement's history, making its way on their debut release, Slay Tracks (1933-1969).

Serpentine Pad

2007-08-29T20:53:00.000-05:00

"Serpentine Pad" always felt like Pavement's take on the Sex Pistols. SM sings in this phony British accent about fighting the corporations and some other nonsense over a hap-hazard performance by the other band members. It may be the closest thing the band ever did to a 1977-ish punk song about the anti-establishment.

The music is bottom heavy as Ibold drives the song and the feedback-happy guitars take a back seat. Besides Malkmus' poor Johnny Rotten impersonation, this is one of the clearest recordings of Nastanovich's screaming back-up vocals.

Pavement's humor truly comes through on "Serpentine Pad". From the sloppy guitar work to the fake accent to the silly punk rock lyrics, this track demonstrates how the band can make you wanna' rock out as well as giggle. A song like "Serpentine Pad" convinces me that this band never took itself too seriously, and that's refreshing.

(Sorry for the clip. It was all I could find.)

Our Singer

2007-08-22T14:57:00.000-05:00

The end of Slanted and Enchanted comes in the form of "Our Singer", and it's just what SM has been waiting for: the horizon of Pavement's first full-length release brought to us by Gary Young's sloppy drumming. It's a victorious conclusion to an album that would later be touted as one of the decade's best. (Whatever that means.) It felt like SM was triumphantly proclaiming that an age of disappointment was upon us.

"I've dreamt of this, but it never comes."

Disappointment? It's what Generation X is/was about. Let's lower our expectations and strive for greatness that never comes. This album brought in the slacker generation as well as anything grunge or Beck could conjure.

The nineties were full contradictions that demonstrated Gen X's ambition to fall just short. An idealistic Bill Clinton left his legacy on a plump interne's dress. All the indie bands full of integrity jumped for major labels and then came crawling back drug-addicted and broke. The rebirth of John Hughes-influenced movies only sent us into a tailspin of crappy teenage flicks with no angst and no Peter Gabriel. Internet start-ups made some major cash for Gen X only to have the bubble burst before the millennium. The nineties failed to meet our lowered expectations over and over.

Pavement thrived in this environment. Gary Young could not play, and Stephen Malkmus could not sing. They perfectly reflected the times. "Our Singer" stated SaE's place in making the nineties the slacker of all decades.

Stereo

2007-08-14T10:37:00.000-05:00

"What about the voice of Geddy Lee?/How did it get so high?/I wonder if he speaks like an ordinary guy/I know him and he does/Then you're my fact checking cuz"

These were the lyrics I'd recite everyday to Brittany, a plump fifth grader in my second year of teaching. I'd ponder about the voice of Geddy Lee, and she'd respond that he does, in fact, have a high-pitched voice. Of course, it helped that her parents were huge Rush fans and had named Brittany's older brother after the falsetto-singing, bass guitar virtuoso from Toronto. Undoubtedly, Brittany's parents became big fans of Geddy Lee's unique delivery while listening to songs like "Tom Sawyer" or "Working Man" on FM rock stations.

"Stereo" is Pavement's version of R.E.M.'s collaboration with KRS-One in 1991's "Radio Song". SM's delivery is somewhat rap-like but with absurdity dominating his narrative as opposed to the overtly political message of "Radio Song". Instead of complaining about the shortcomings of corporate radio, Pavement chooses to marvel at the diversity of ridiculousness found all across the dial, including their own songs.

The lyrics highlight some amusing anecdotes that illustrate this variety. Observations of farm reports, sports call-in shows, and conservative talk radio with the ever-present classic rock dominate SM's listening experience. This multitude of material is only broken when the band hears their own song on the radio and (somewhat predictably) goes wild with delight.

As Brighten the Corners' opener, "Stereo" demonstrates a much more focused band with a more conventional sound (for radio possibly?) than the previous release, Wowee Zowee. Maybe the band backed off the weed or actually rehearsed together, but whatever they did, BtC marks a point in the band's history when the songs began to resemble a more traditional rock sound that could find a place on radio. (This, of course, ignores the fact that "Cut Your Hair" was a minor radio hit.) Although, it was still their own version of that tradition, BtC wasn't anything like the classic rock, including Rush.

Greenlander

2007-08-10T10:03:00.000-05:00

"Greenlander" appeared on the compilation Born to Choose in 1993. I have often thought of this song as one of the top 5 quintessential hidden indie gems of the early 90's. Born was a compilation put out by Rykodisc to support NARAL and other women's charities. R.E.M., Tom Waits, and others also contributed to the comp.

I discovered the song at about the same time I was discovering a world of music beyond radio and MTV. I wrote a letter in response to some liner notes on a 7" by this Columbus band, Tiara (whom Isaac Brock would tell me several years later were "fucking awesome".) In my letter, I called them "Pavement-esque" which they appreciated being that Pavement was a major influence. Also, I sent two blank tapes for some additional songs. Tiara graciously filled both tapes. One of the tracks was a cover of "Greenlander" that actually rivals the original. Needless to say, my siblings and I wore that tape out and still talk about it from time to time.

Strangely enough, my girlfriend left me for the bassist in Tiara. We had a long, slow good-bye that ended on a cold New Year's Eve at a Waffle House.

The song describes a couple performing ceremonies in the arctic wilderness of Greenland in hopes of cementing their lives together. The cold and darkness are metaphors for their icy relationship as it creeps to an end despite their best hopes and efforts. SM even describes a future of ice skating and children that will never happen. Mistakes are made and no amount of tradition or ceremony can stop the relationship from ending.

The music is pretty straightforward despite the obvious tuning that, to me at the time, sounded so foreign and bizarre when stripped down. The tunings and tempo help feed into the slow descent of the described relationship. It's sad but beautiful, sort of how I picture Greenland.

These images conjured up by the words and music of "Greenlander" represent that depressing winter for me perfectly.

Folk Jam

2007-08-07T11:21:00.000-05:00

I remember reading a review for Terror Twilight and how the jam band inside of Pavement, which had been festering for several years in their live act, was ready to unleash itself upon an unsuspecting fan base. References to Phish and the Grateful Dead were being thrown around. This was after the so-called "classic rock" ode that was Brighten the Corners was released in '97.

I don't care what the critics write. Pavement can never be labeled as "classic rock" or a "jam band". Sure, the band had classic moments and often liked to carry on a jam two or three minutes too long, but are they really compatible with the Dead or Zeppelin? I think not.

In their constant drive to define Pavement, critics attached these limiting labels to our heroes in order to make sense of why we love them. Maybe the fact that they were so undefinable makes them so beloved. I've been just as guilty of this as any real critic, but I've accepted that Pavement is just Pavement (with a nod to the Fall).

Regardless, the reviews and a song titled "Folk Jam" worried me. Were they literally trying to play a folky-jammy sort of mishmash? Was this their last hurrah of pot-induced folky, hippie jams? Of course not.

"Folk Jam" opens with this rolling tempo of guitars and drums that reminds one of a Garcia song until SM breaks in with his classically humorless delivery of a humorous tale. The protagonist wants something more out of his family history and life than what is there. The song celebrates the universal shortcomings of family. (This is either a jab SM's aging band mates or a lament of his own wasted life.)

The folky part primarily refers to the song's aesthetics, not so much the message. Despite the sound, your'e quickly reminded that this is a true Pavement song with lines like "Well, pardon my birth/I just slipped out" and "Beware the head of state says that she believes in leprechauns/Irish folktales scare the shit out of me". These have to be two of my favorite lines in their entire catalog.

Transport Is Arranged

2007-07-26T16:36:00.000-05:00

Brighten the Corners was the beginning of the end to the Pavement we all loved. Members were getting married and moving to exotic locales like Louisville and Idaho. The mid-tempo jams that were hinted at on Wowee Zowee were further developed on this album with "Transport Is Arranged" as a prime example.

It would not do justice to SM's stream of consciousness monologue to dissect it word-for-word, but the tone of the message can be interpreted. (Of course, any interpretation will be put through numerous criticisms, but isn't that what blogging is about?)

The song's lyrics, in tone if not in cryptic meaning, expressed Malkmus' uncomfortableness with the direction of the band and its members. Although the lyrics are not as literal as the tracks "Old to Begin" or "Fin", the feeling of discomfort with maturity is clearly expressed. SM is trying to get out of this predetermined maze that is adulthood which has claimed his band mates, but, in the end, he can't run away and leave it all behind. Even the escape is methodically calculated or arranged.

The song means a lot more to me now as a thirty-two-year-old than it did in my senior year of college. The pressures of home-ownership (moving this weekend) and impending parenthood (babies all around!) are revealing the plan for my life that I did not intend when I was 18, 21, or even throughout my 20's. There's something unnerving about fate, especially when it involves responsibility and maturity.

Range Life

2007-07-24T18:39:00.000-05:00

"Range Life" is one of my favorite alt-country farces of all-time (along with the Lemonheads' "Big Gay Heart"). The song describes an aging hippie (I hate hippies!) remembering his days in the limelight and as a skater-punk of the streets. He longs for that slow country life, the range life, so he can settle down.

The interesting part of the song is the third verse in which the hippie calls out the rock gods of the time, the Smashing Pumpkins and Stone Temple Pilots. Much was made of the Smashing Pumpkins being described as "nature kids" who "have no function". Billy Corgan was so insulted that he supposedly refused to play Lollapalooza if Pavement was on the bill. Whatever. Pavement played the next year at my favorite Lollapalooza (right after a stirring set by Sinead O'Connor!).

Malkmus often inserted other bands into the slots occupied by the Pumpkins and STP when playing the song live. I remember seeing them at Lollapalooza in Columbus, OH. He inserted Royal Trux as the "nature kids" and the Afghan Whigs as the "eligible bachelors". It was a clever nod to two great indie bands from Ohio (although, the Whigs weren't so indie at that time). The Trux recorded on Pavement's old label, Drag City.

We Dance

2007-07-22T11:28:00.000-05:00

As a disjointed acoustic guitar strums and piano keys tinkle beginning 1995's Wowee Zowee, you can hear the sucking sound coming from the executive board room...or was it a gurgling bong? Either way, executives run around frantically wondering what did they just purchase in their new distribution deal with Matador. Pavement was supposed to be the next next next Nirvana that was going to drag Atlantic Records out of the music industry doldrums. Where was the "Smells Like Teen Spirit"? "Jeremy"? "Blackhole Sun"? I often chuckle at this picture of suits loosening their collars, wiping sweat from their male-pattern-baldness, and leaping out of high-rise windows as SM states, "There is no castration fear." There may have been "castration fear" at Atlantic Records HQ the first day they listened to WZ.

"We Dance" begins Pavement's most experimental album that also happened to be their first (and only) release with the distribution advantages of mega-label Atlantic Records. (Of course, Capital later picked up the pieces.) The track sets the slow-to-mid-tempo experimental feel of an album that was ridiculed by critics and fans. It was only after the release of Brighten the Corners did fans finally appreciate the greatness that is Wowee Zowee. (This, coincidentally, was when I realized the "Pavement Factor" existed. The PF basically means that each release by a band is hated in comparison to the band's previous, classic release...until the band unleashes another dud. This may be why Pavement continues to re-release its albums in hopes that their fans will somehow fall in love with Terror Twilight.)

The country balladry that is "We Dance" may have come from their experiences in Memphis while recording WZ at the infamous Easley Studios. The song has this looseness as SM casually offers a dance, praise for your elders, and some Brazilian nuts while the sparse instrumentation sloppily prepares the listener for a new kind of Pavement, a stoned Pavement. It's probably the most soothing song ever penned by SM, but at the same time provides some uncertainty of what's to come.

Baptist Blacktick

2007-07-20T08:18:00.000-05:00

B-sides don't get much better than this. "Baptist Blacktick" originally appeared on the "Summer Babe" 7", their only release on Drag City before heading off to Matador. It later appeared on DC's collection of early Pavement singles and EP's, Westing (by Musket and Sextant). That's where I discovered this gem, but I never really appreciated it until hearing the single. My cousin loaned me his copy as he bragged about grabbing it before it was ever placed on the shelf. I still have it and may never let it go.

Coming of age in the grunge era steered me toward more aggressive rock. Songs with great urgency attracted my attention. "Baptist" had that urgency with a large dose of sloppiness. The tempo is way faster than later Pavement material as Stephen Malkmus frantically tries to keep pace with his flat, California drawl.

The metaphor of a black tick (black-legged or deer tick?) sucking the life from our hero always painted a picture of this black-attired Baptist preacher who would ride around the Reconstruction-era South, distributing his own sort of divine justice, sort of an evil religious zealot in Zorro drag. It's too literal, but I thought he'd make a great comic book villain. Either way, he pisses off SM tremendously causing him to break from his deadpan delivery into a painful scream after achingly repeating the chorus. This is one of my all-time favorite moments in indie rock history:

"I'm just waiting, waiting for the Baptist/That fucker...ahhhhhh..."

It may have been the f-word that grabbed my attention, but it got to me. Still does.

Zurich Is Stained

2007-07-18T08:03:00.000-05:00

"I can't sing it strong enough/'cause that kind of strength i just don't have"

On March 4, 1945, six US bombers mistakingly bombed Zurich, Switzerland, violating the 96th Article of War. The resulting court-marshal of Lieutenants Sincock and Balides may have been the first addressing a "friendly fire" incident. (Interestingly, actor James Stewart presided over the proceedings.) Seven people were killed as the bombers unloaded over 24 tons of bombs and incendiaries on Zurich.

"What does it mean, a mistake or two?"

Apparently, the bombers were misdirected due to faulty navigation devices. Sincock and Balides were in the lead plane with Sincock as the leader of the group and Balides as his navigator. The case was tossed on account of the mechanical malfunctions.

"You think it's easy, but you're wrong/I am not one-half of the problem."

As one-half of the defendants, Balides undoubtedly denied his guilt since he hadn't ordered any bombs to be dropped. (Both defendants testified, though it was not necessary.) He simply mis-informed his pilot that they were flying over Frieburg, Germany. And besides, he was only one-third of the navigation crew. So, he really wasn't one-half of the problem.

"Zurich is stained and it's not my fault/Just hold me back or let me run."

Since the case was dropped, Balides went on to fly other missions. One such mission was so successful that it resulted in several crew members being awarded medals. Balides was denied a medal due to his participation in the Zurich bombing.

Sources: Wikipedia & "The Bombing of Zurich" by Dr. Jonathan E. Helmreich