The Daily Swarm

MATADOR:

“After years of speculation, the most important American band of the 1990’s is returning to the stage, with the lineup of Mark Ibold, Scott “Spiral Stairs” Kannberg, Stephen Malkmus, Bob Nastanovich and Steve West reuniting for dates around the world in 2010. Please be advised this tour is not a prelude to additional jaunts and/or a permanent reunion.

HUH?

BROOKLYN VEGAN:

Posted by Anonymous | September 16, 2009 10:17 AM

if that ‘invented sound’ is the awful messy bullshit that is Pavement, that i’ll go right ahead and call it overrated.

and whoever compared these guys to Mick Taylor/Keith Richards.. are you fucking kidding me? please point me in the direction of a song that is highly enjoyable and musically interesting and inviting as opposed to esoteric as fuck AND sounds like the genius that is Taylor/Richards. i’m sorry but i don’t ever recall like I was listening to ‘Bitch’ while listening to this shit band.

pavement sucks my fucking fat ‘sausage in the morning with eggs and orange juice’ dick

STEREOGUM:

First off, who cares we all saw this coming. Second, Pavement is probably the most boring of seminal indie rock bands so have fun standing still in a crowd of skinny guys with Grover bodies wearing brown cuordaroys to an energy lacking band.
Posted by: Wowee Zowee, not surprised at 09/16/09 1:48 PM | Reply
Score = -1

THINK PROGRESS:

I went through a Pavement phase but then decided it was a bunch of bloodless, arch bullshit. My epiphany came in a record store in Bellingham where they were playing Pavement over the PA and Steve Malkmus was singing something about Geddy Lee’s voice, and I realized I didn’t care about Geddy Lee’s voice, or anything else Pavement had ever sung about. All the cool kids listened to them but they didn’t get my blood pumping at all. A lazy person could say they were like REM, but REM were a bunch of sensitive shy art school types who actually had something to say (even if you couldn’t figure out what it was) and some passion and never would smirk through an entire record the way Pavement seemed to do again and again. I understand Pavement got the 90s indie ball rolling but I never got their appeal.

And a lot of the twee indie rock that has come since is even worse. I think Steve Malkmus has a lot to answer for. if you’re looking for good godfather-of-indie bands to worship, Modest Mouse, Built to Spill, and Guided by Voices all crush Pavement like a grape.

TWITTER:

# Who’s Pavement?10:01 AM Sep 16th from Tweetie

WellHungAtDawn: RT: @matadorrecords: r/t @loscampesinos
who the fuck are ‘Pavement’?
about 1 hour ago from TwitterFox · Reply · View Tweet

SH4RKEE: @Sonisphere
who the hell are Pavement ?
about 2 hours ago from web · Reply · View Tweet

hotcarlspecial: @theseblues I’ve never heard of pavement..who are they?
about 3 hours ago from UberTwitter · Reply · View Tweet

BONUS…FROM THE WAY-BACK MACHINE

ROLLING STONE 1995:

NY TIMES 1994:

Pavement’s set at Irving Plaza on Wednesday night started out well enough, but it flopped around at its midpoint, then died. The band, which is touring in support of a new album, “Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain” (Matador), is known for its erratic shows; this one disintegrated in front of a full house.

WASHINGTON POST 1997:

Perhaps the most telling thing about Pavement’s performance Tuesday at the 9:30 club was the frequency with which singer-songwriter Stephen Malkmus handed his guitar to a technician to be tuned. This bicoastal quintet’s first few Washington performances routinely fell apart, but these days the band’s music has professional polish and even epic guitar solos. Its fractured, parodistic style has turned into genuine imitation.