Word: malkmusã
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...didn’t have his glasses on—but for the most part, the band remains stunningly unchanged. Always known for their boyish, shambling charm, they seem similar to their former selves of 10 or even 15 year ago. Bob Nastanovich still stands tambourine in hand, Malkmus?? haircut is identical, Mark Ibolds’ basslines and pigeon-like qualities remain pronounced...
...moniker, Spiral Stairs, was adopted in order to give the band an air of mystery. Spiral Stairs was always secondary to Stephen Malkmus, the chief songwriter and public face, but as the 1990s wore on Kannberg became increasingly marginalized as Pavement became more and more an expression of Malkmus?? personal vision. Pavement’s final studio album, 1999’s “Terror Twilight”, contained no Spiral Stairs songs, and within two years Malkmus had launched a solo career—occasionally with backing band the Jicks—that has kept...
...chore to get through, even today.But somehow, in between awful junk like “Extradition” and “Flux = Rad,” the album has some of the band’s greatest triumphs. “AT&T” is one of Malkmus?? best love songs. “Half a Canyon” is terrifying in its drive. “Grounded,” a ballad about a dentist, is still chilling a decade later. “Kennel District” is the best song that second...
...metal stylings of Tool. Ironically, the only cut on the album that doesn’t quite work is “The Farmer’s Hotel”: the sole song attributed to both Berman and Malkmus. The track suffers from both songwriters’ characteristic excesses: Malkmus?? directionless guitar noodling and Berman’s oppressive verbosity. Luckily, the band is stacked with enough talent to keep these two honest, and missteps are few and far between. “Tanglewood” is a focused, energetic, and ambitious work, one that rewards revisitation just...
...best things about Gas was that it definitively wasn’t a Pavement album. The same cannot be said of Monsoon. Though Stairs rarely achieves Malkmus?? free association lyricism, his decidedly indie delivery is couched in undistinguished material that sounds like Pavement B-sides. There are some more upbeat moments: “Caught In The Rain” features one of Stairs’ bummed-yet-cheery choruses while “Line It Up” musters a strut that the rest of Monsoon only gestures towards...