Pavement - Trigger Cut Plus Two 7'' (Matador, 1992)

Pavement
Trigger Cut Plus Two 7''
Matador
1992

Rating: How do you rate perfection?  Oh yeah, 10. It's a 10.

How to put into words the strength of my feelings of one of the greatest songs ever, from one of the greatest albums ever, recorded by one of the best bands ever?  Let's go with...it's pretty good.  Pavement could do no wrong for the bulk of the nineties, and if "Trigger Cut" isn't the top of the heap it's real damn close.  

And I know the b-sides here nearly as well as the title track...I'm not even sure how I know "Sue Me Jack" by heart (maybe an old mix tape?), but "So Stark (You're A Skyscraper)" was also on the bootleg "Stray Slack," which I might have as memorized as I do all of "Slanted & Enchanted."  From an era when bootlegs had real value, and I may have spent WAY too much money on a few import ones. 

For the love of god, buy this if you ever come across it. 

Spiral Stairs - We Wanna Be Hyp-No-Tized (Nine Mile, 2019)

Spiral Stairs
We Wanna Be Hyp-No-Tized
Nine Mile
2019

Rating: 7 inky fingerprints out of 10

With two albums in three years, this is what Spiral Stairs (aka Scott Kannberg) working at an unrelenting, breakneck pace looks like.  Much like his last release “Doris & The Daggers,” it’s impossible to escape the Pavement comparisons – too much baggage at this point (both for Spiral Stairs and long-time listeners like myself), and given his penchant for “covering” Pavement songs live, Scott appears to be happy (or at least content) walking towards the comparison, not away from it.  With his own material, he’s taken that quintessential Pavement indie-slacker vibe and paired it with an attempt to create modern classic rock – lots of eighties-esque horns & keyboard arrangements, chiming guitars, and a clear nod to the legacies of Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, and their ilk.  Second track “The Fool” is an especially strong offering, as is the album opener, the pseudo-title track “Hyp-No-Tized.”  The rest of the album might not be great but it’s still pretty damn good.  I’m by no means claiming this is a groundbreaking piece of art, but I know I like it while I’m listening to it, and sometimes that’s good enough.  Not all good rock music needs to require a lot of thinking (or words written about it).   

Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks - Sparkle Hard (Matador, 2018)

Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks

Sparkle Hard

Matador

2018

Rating: 7 dried-out highlighters out of 10

It’s still completely lost on me what the difference is between Stephen Malkmus versus Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks, but this new record “Sparkle Hard” is the latter.  It’s very Jicky obviously!  Regardless of title, with Stephen’s voice and song-writing style it’s always going to sound like an extension of Pavement.  A pig is still just a bacon machine even if it wears a dress and dates a frog.  After a few years paying only middling attention, I really got into 2014’s “Wig Out At Jagbags,” and was subsequently quite looking forward to this one.  In three words: I’m digging it.  Does “I’m” count as only one word?  Anyways, while still operating in the well-established pocket he has created for himself these past few decades, “Sparkle Hard” feels…mellower, more mature even?  In this case ”mature” really just means there are some strings and not as many guitar solos and one song sounds a little country (that song is “Refute,” but it’s not as country as Pavement’s “Range Life”).  There are more keys/synths here than I remember him employing in the past, but that could be more my faulty memory than an actual stylistic change. 

I’m trying to imagine a Malkmus fan seeking out & reading this (or any) other review of “Sparkle Hard,” his eighth solo record after five Pavement releases, and trying to decide whether or not they might give this new release a chance…I can’t imagine this person exists.  These people already know how you feel about this man and his art.  If you’re not a fan, this ain’t changing your mind – he’s as Malkmus-y as ever.  And if you have no idea who he is, maybe you’re super young or you just woke from a nearly thirty year coma – just go buy “Slanted & Enchanted” and branch out from there.  

Stephen Malkmus - Jo Jo's Jacket 7'' (Domino, 2001)

Stephen Malkmus
Jo Jo's Jacket 7''
Domino
2001

Rating: 7 missing neon signs out of 10

I was bummed when Pavement broke up, as most of their fans were, but pretty quickly Stephen Malkmus put out a self-titled record that sounded just like the last couple of Pavement records...and we knew the world would be ok.  The title track here is off of that album, and it's a damn good song.  Malkmus was always clearly very involved in shaping Pavement's sound, but when you hear his solo work it's very clear just how much influence he held.  My feelings are not nearly as strong on the flip track as they are for the title track - "Open And Shut Cases" - the lyrics of which mostly are just those four words in the title repeated over and over.  It is the epitome of a seven inch b-side: there, but barely. 

Side note: the label on my b-side is all jacked up...not sure if this was normal for this release, or I'm just "special."

Spiral Stairs - Doris & The Daggers (Nine Mile, 2017)

Spiral Stairs
Doris & The Daggers
Nine Mile
2017

Rating: 7.5 wizard balls out of 10

Spiral Stairs aka Scott Kannberg aka the other dude from Pavement who sings occasionally doesn't appear to be in any hurry when it comes to music or life in general.  His last release was "The Real Feel" in 2009, and since then he's moved around the world and seemingly just enjoyed life without worrying about any music industry bullshit.  I'm not sure if that time off was a necessary recharge that was needed to produce this damn fine record "Doris & The Daggers," or if I should be mad I had to wait nearly a decade to get another recording from him, but I guess better late than never.  The Pavement pedigree is clearly there in most of these songs, especially if you've listened to that band as much as I have, but it's mixed with a mature Kiwi-pop vibe, be that intentional or I'm just imagining shit because I've been listening to a lot of New Zealand pop lately.  You know, the Verlaines and the Bats and the Clean and all those other amazing bands that all your favorite musicians love but don't get nearly enough recognition from the general public.  "The Unconditional" is probably my top jam here, followed closely by "AWM" and "Dance(Cry Wolf)"...it's all pretty much gold though.  Scott had a ton of well known musicians show up on this, folks from the National, Shudder to Think, Broken Social Scene, Kelley Stoltz, and plenty more.

Spiral Stairs was great live too, when I saw him recently.  If he happens to play in your town I would get my butt to the venue because god knows when the next time will be that he decides to record and tour again...might be next year, might be in 2030.  

Also: it's never been clear to me if Spiral Stairs in this case is intended as a nickname for Scott, since he went by it in the early years of Pavement, or if it's the name of the band.  I'm treating it as his name, but given my track record I'm probably wrong. 

Pavement / Medusa Cyclone - Split 7'' (Third Gear, 1994)

Pavement / Medusa Cyclone
Split 7''
Third Gear
1994

Rating: 7 James Browns reading braille out of 10

I didn't even know this Pavement seven inch existed until I randomly found it in a used bin a few weeks ago.  Their song here, titled "Dancing with the Elders" is an early version of "We Dance" from "Wowee Zowee."  They're about 80% the same, some minor tweaks to the pace and lyric delivery being the differences.   If you're a Pavement completist, probably worth getting - won't cost you much anyways.  

As for the b-side, "Chemical" by Medusa Cyclone, I had never heard of them before buying this.  Kind of had that dark, noisy AmRep vibe, but not nearly as distorted or angry as most of their acts back in the early-to-mid-nineties.  If I happened upon more by them in a bargain bin I'd probably pick it up just to see what's going on. 

Pavement - The Secret History, Vol. 1 (Matador, 2015)

Pavement
The Secret History, Vol. 1
Matador
2015

Rating: 9 distant voices out of 10

A compilation of B-sides, Peel sessions, live records, and miscellaneous other tracks from one of my favorite bands of all time, Pavement.  If you're already a fan like myself, you'll recognize the B-sides from some of their seven inches, but it's nice to have them all in one spot.  The recordings on the Peel sessions are obviously excellent as is usually the case with Peel sessions.  The live recordings are all from a 1992 concert in Brixton, and these are A+ as well - and as someone who's seen a couple of "phoned in" Pavement gigs, it sounds like the band is on their game here.  Owning this is a no-brainer for fans like myself; anyone new to Pavement would probably still enjoy this, but I'd suggest grabbing a copy of "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain" and/or "Slanted and Enchanted" first. 

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Wig Out at Jagbags (Matador, 2014)

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
Wig Out at Jagbags
Matador
2014

Rating: 7.5 rural postcards out of 10

As someone who has spent the better part of his life listening to Pavement for hours and hours and hours, frankly it's impossible not to hear a new Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks record and compare the two.  Is that fair?  Probably not, but when you formerly fronted one of the most important bands in my personal development, that's just the kinda shit that's gonna happen. 

Anyways, personal bias aside, this is pretty good record.  For whatever reason I've not been paying much attention to this Stephen Malkmus solo stuff outside of his first one "Pig Lib," and perhaps that was a mistake on my part.  And bias or no bias it still sounds pretty much like a Pavement record - how could it not with Malkmus writing and singing the songs?  "The Janitor Revealed" and "Houston Hades" especially sound like outtakes from the Pavement record "Terror Twilight" or maybe "Brighten the Corners."  I'm not complaining, this shit makes me feel young again. 

As a side note, if the album title "Wig Out at Jagbags" isn't cribbed directly from something Robert Pollard said, you just know at a minimum it's a phrase he uttered at some point in his life.  It's just way too Pollard-y not to have come from his brain, if even telekinetically. 

Pavement - Stereo 7'' (Domino, 1997)

Pavement
Stereo 7''
Domino
1997

Rating: 8 aborted jokes out of 10

The lead song and lead single from "Brighten the Corners," the fourth full-length that Pavement came out with.  Good record, good song, very polished in that way the last couple of Pavement records were.  The flip side is an instrumental track called "Birds in the Majic Industry" that is just fine, not really anything worth burning brain cells or finger types over. 

Gary Young's Hospital - The Grey Album (Omnibus, 2004)

Gary Young's Hospital
The Grey Album
Omnibus
2004

Rating: 7 heavy eyes out of 10
 
Many of you are probably having the same reaction to this that I did, which went something like this: “Gary Young? The Gary Young from Pavement?  Plantman? Holy shit!” That said, this is a decent enough release by someone I had assumed was long gone from the music scene (although it appears, unknown to me, that he released an album in 2000 as well). Those familiar with his post-Pavement work of the mid-90’s, this is roughly in that same vein of sound. For everyone else, the closest touchstone I could come up with is Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, with a bit of mellow psychedelia ala The Radar Brothers or some such similar outfit, with a bit of silliness thrown in. nothing groundbreaking, but worth checking out if you happen upon it; additionally, he seems to be playing out a lot lately, and I can only imagine the live shows are worth a viewing.