Pavement is an American indie rock band that formed in Stockton, California in 1989. For most of their career, the group consisted of vocalist and guitarist Stephen Malkmus, guitarist and vocalist Scott Kannberg, bassist Mark Ibold, drummer Steve West and vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Bob Nastanovich. Initially conceived as a recording project, the band at first avoided press or live performances, while attracting considerable underground attention with their early releases. Gradually evolving into a more polished band, Pavement recorded five full-length albums and ten EPs over the course of a decade, though the group disbanded with some acrimony in 1999 as the members moved on to other projects. In 2010, Pavement undertook a well-received reunion tour, followed by another international tour from 2022 to 2024. The band has played several smaller tours and concerts since then.
Though only briefly attracting mainstream attention with the single "Cut Your Hair" in 1994, Pavement were a successful indie rock band. Rather than signing with a major label as many of their 1980s forebears had done, they remained signed to independent labels throughout their career, including Flying Nun and Matador. Pavement achieved a cult following and have often been described as one of the most influential bands to emerge from the American underground in the 1990s.Erlewine, Stephen Thomas; Phares, Heather. [ "Pavement biography"], AllMusic. Retrieved on March 26, 2009.From The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001) Some prominent music critics, such as Robert Christgau and Stephen Thomas Erlewine, called them the best band of the 1990s.
History 1987–1992: Formation and Slanted and Enchanted Pavement officially formed in Stockton, California, in January 1989 as a studio project of guitarists and vocalists Stephen Malkmus and Scott Kannberg, known originally only as "S.M." and "Spiral Stairs". Kannberg had previously started a band of the same name and played one show in 1987 before quickly disbanding. The group's debut EPs were the lo-fi releases Slay Tracks: 1933–1969, Demolition Plot J-7, and Perfect Sound Forever. They were recorded at Louder Than You Think, the home studio of Stockton local and former hippie Gary Young, who also played drums on the recordings. Upon first hearing the duo's songs, Young was quoted as saying, "this Malkmus idiot is a complete songwriting genius".Sullivan, James. "Pavement Gear Up". Synthesis.net. February 27, 1997. Retrieved on March 26, 2009.
During this time the band were often compared to English rock band the Fall. Kannberg stated in a 1992 interview that he preferred Minneapolis rock band the Replacements. The Fall singer Mark E. Smith claimed that Pavement were a "rip-off"Perry, Andrew. "Alright?". Select. May 1993. and that they did not "have an original idea in their heads";Herrington, Tony. "Mark E. Smith: Interview". The Wire. September 1996. other members of the Fall have been more positive.Atwal, Sandy. "Fall in a Hole". Imprint. September 30, 1994.
After the release of Slay Tracks, a new drummer, Jason Turner, was drafted to replace Young. However, after just one tour and a handful of recording sessions, when it became apparent that Turner and Malkmus did not get along, Young was reinstated.Jovanovic (2004), p.78–82. Malkmus later described Turner as "this depressed guy who might assassinate me one day... He's very competitive."Tape Op: The Book About Creative Music Recording, edited by Larry Crane. Interviews with Stephen Malkmus and Gary Young, pp. 68–78 Around the same time, Bob Nastanovich was incorporated into the live Pavement band as an auxiliary percussionist. Malkmus had been roommates with Nastanovich in New York City.
Pavement's first performance was on December 14, 1989, on their local college radio station KDVS-FM in Davis, with Malkmus, Kannberg, and Turner. In 1990, Pavement embarked on their first tour, with a third guitarist, Rob Chamberlin, who left to join a band called Sugartime before Ibold joined the group.
British indie rock band the Wedding Present covered the Slay Tracks song "Box Elder" after their bassist discovered the album during a trip to the United States. As Pavement were still unknown at the time, people erroneously grew to believe that Pavement's original recording was the cover. The Wedding Present frontman David Gedge gave a Pavement EP to John Peel, who quickly became one of Pavement's biggest fans.
Around 1992, Pavement became a full-time band, with Malkmus, Kannberg, Young, Nastanovich, and bassist Mark Ibold, who had been one of the band's earliest fans. They played their first show at punk club The Court Tavern in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Their debut album, Slanted and Enchanted, was released commercially in 1992 after copies had been circulated on cassette tape for nearly a year. Though the percussive influence of the Fall was still pervasive, as was that of English post-punk band Swell Maps, many of the songs also exhibited a strong sense of melody. Since its release Slanted and Enchanted has appeared on many critics' best-of lists and is frequently cited as being among the most influential indie rock albums of the 1990s. It is listed on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Later the same year, the band released the EP Watery, Domestic.
1993–1994: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain During the Slanted & Enchanted tour, Gary Young's behaviour became more eccentric; he would hand out cabbage and mashed potatoes to fans at the door of the venue, perform handstands, drunkenly fall off his drum stool, and run around the venue while the band was playing. The band only understood how severe Young's drinking problem was after Pavement's first few tours. Malkmus later told Tape Op, "We knew that he was like a hippie and kinda flaky, but we didn't know he had such a bad drinking problem. We found out on that tour, because he really got sick from being nervous... That's why I let Bob be in the band...'Keep the beat going if Gary passes out.'" In 1993, Malkmus unsuccessfully attempted to record some songs at Young's studio. He later said, "We kind of wanted to not record with him anymore, but we were too nice to fire people or even really talk about it... We tried to record there, but it wasn't sounding good and he didn't have his studio ready and he was also in a drinking funk."
At the conclusion of a 1993 tour of Australia, Japan, and Europe, the group held a meeting in a hotel room in Copenhagen. Malkmus, Kannberg, and Ibold remained silent while Nastanovich, Young's best friend at the time, argued with Young. Young agreed to leave the band. He was replaced by Steve West, who had been a fellow museum security guard at the Whitney Museum of American Art along with Malkmus and David Berman.Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: LA's Desert Origin's CD. Liner notes by Spiral Stairs West's debut performance was in 1993 at a Drag City festival in Chicago. Also that year, the band contributed to the AIDS-Benefit Album No Alternative produced by the Red Hot Organization with their song "Unseen Power of the Picket Fence".
Pavement's second album Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain was released in 1994. The record was more indebted to the classic rock tradition than their debut. The single "Cut Your Hair" was the most successful song, and briefly enjoyed airplay on alternative rock radio and MTV. Pavement performed the song on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Additionally, the video aired on "Career Day", a season five episode of Beavis and Butt-head, who termed it "buttwipe music" and also wanted the band to "try harder." The song was also featured briefly in the movie A Very Brady Sequel. Like its predecessor, the album received widespread acclaim, including being listed on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
The lyrics from another single from the album, "Range Life", criticized alternative rock stars the Smashing Pumpkins and the Stone Temple Pilots. Malkmus has insisted over the years that the line is meant to be light-hearted and is sung from the point of view of the aging hippie character in the song. Later live versions of the track had Malkmus substituting "the Spice Girls", "Counting Crows", or others for "Stone Temple Pilots". In response, Smashing Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan threatened to drop his band from their slot headlining the 1994 Lollapalooza Festival if Pavement was allowed to play. Corgan and Malkmus traded barbs in the press for several years afterwards."Rivalries great fodder for entertainment in music industry" . Daily Bruin, April 27, 2003.
1995–1997: Wowee Zowee and Brighten the Corners The next album, Wowee Zowee, recorded in Memphis and released April 11, 1995, covered a wide range of styles including punk, country and balladry across its 18 tracks, which often avoided conventional song structures. On the Slow Century DVD, Malkmus attributed his odd choice of singles to his marijuana smoking, stating that "I was smoking a lot of grass back then but to me they sounded like hits." Although Malkmus has said in recent interviews that the album is the last "classic Pavement record", Kannberg has voiced regrets about Wowee Zowee. "We made some mistakes on that record... we were kind of pressured into putting out a record a little faster than we were ready to. I mean, I'm totally into the record. It's just if we had another six months to think about it, it would've been much different."
During the tour for the album, Nastanovich stated on the Slow Century DVD, the band would often not work out a setlist before shows, opting for drug and alcohol fueled jams over hit singles. Some of these shows were held during the 1995 Lollapalooza festival, where the incoherent performances received a hostile reaction from many audiences. Footage from Slow Century shows the band being pelted with mud and rocks. The band left the stage immediately and dubbed themselves "The Band That Ruined Lollapalooza".
Wowee Zowee was followed up by the EP Pacific Trim, which was recorded with only Malkmus and drummers Nastanovich and Steve West. Their studio time was originally reserved for a Silver Jews recording, but frontman David Berman walked out in frustration and the trio decided not to waste prepaid recording time.
Brighten the Corners, released in 1997 and produced by Mitch Easter, was a shorter, more conventional record than Wowee Zowee. Malkmus said on the Slow Century DVD that the album was an attempt to show audiences that Pavement had more mainstream and classic rock influences than it had previously portrayed. The album contained two of the band's best known singles in "Stereo" and "Shady Lane". It was the only Pavement album to include a lyric sheet except Slanted and Enchanted and sold better than its predecessors. Despite increased success, the band continued to fragment, with its members focusing more on other musical projects or on raising families.
1998–2000: Terror Twilight and breakup In 1998, Pavement began work on their final album, Terror Twilight. The band originally planned to self-produce Terror Twilight, renting out Jackpot! Studios in Portland, Oregon. The group stalled though, with Malkmus, Ibold, Nastanovich, and Jackpot! employee and future Jicks bassist Joanna Bolme usually opting to play Scrabble over getting any sort of work accomplished.Jovanovic (2004), p.177. Kannberg was especially frustrated over the sessions, particularly at Malkmus's refusal to include any of Kannberg's songs on the album. Fan favorite "For Sale: The Preston School of Industry" and one other song penned by Kannberg were briefly worked on during the sessions, but abandoned.