4 out of 5

Label: Matador / Capitol

Producer: Bryce Goggin (Engineer, Mixing), Mitch Easter (Engineer)

When I was getting into indie music, I dropped dollars on a 3-disc Matador comp because… something.  I’d heard of the label, or sniffed out that it was indie business, or actually, I think ’cause there was a Modest Mouse song on there… even though I already owned the track.  Pavement’s ‘Stereo’ was on there, and it blew me away.  ‘Brighten the Corners’ became my first Pavement album, and it was probably for the best, at least in terms of opening me up to the group, because five minutes later when I learned to be an indie asshole, I’m sure I would’ve shut them down with a lot of that early Matador crew.

By the same token, ‘Brighten’ might’ve ruined Pavement for me.  To me, it’s their best album.  Sure, that might be history speaking, but a lot of time has passed and a lot of variations of Indie Asshole me, with Pavement filed under ‘collect ’em all’ or ‘burn ’em all’ depending on which side of the line I fell and what color my hair was dyed (not either/or, speaking in strict Indie Asshole Mathematics (IAM), of course), and I think there are several things that indicate that it is the perfect balance of slackerdom and slackerdom posing that I believe it to be.  The first two albums were a mash of college rock nonsense, with stupid lyrics and who-carenessness slathered all over the crunchy recordings and messy artwork.  Then Wowee Zowee happened, with its silly cover art, and pushed the band in a poppier direction, picking up the strings of ‘Cut Your Hair’ but flailing all over the joint stylistically.  Then Capitol Records, and I feel like this was when Matador began down the road of never being the same.  But digressing, ‘Brighten’ is an amazing pop record, but still holds on to its rambling roots.  It’s the last disc with a Spiral Stairs track, before ‘Terror Twilight’ became a full on Malkmus affair and indicated the smirking direction his solo career would take… sure, Pavement was always smirking, but prior to this I think the group was smirking away from the camera, not doing so while waiting for the flash.  There’s an air of seriousness to ‘Brighten;’ I sense concentration in writing the songs first, in writing some actual lyrics (some), and then getting comfortable enough with the whole affair to, sure, allow a smirk, but not so that its the dominating emotion.  Hence: ruined Pavement.  There are some incredibly fun tracks, like ‘Stereo,’ with its explosive chorus and Malky actually getting some oomph in vocals without sounding self-conscious about it, and then some prettier moments like ‘Shady Lane’  and ‘Type Slowly’ that are centered around memorable riffs and melodies – much thanks to Bryce Goggin and Mitch Eater on production for keeping ‘Brighten’ so clear and rich – and even some straight out rockers like ‘Embassy Row,’ that does a rare Pavement thing of not just airing it all from the start and instead builds and releases.

So this was their threshold album.  What it is lacking that other discs offered is a moment where it feels completely unrestrained – prior discs did sort of stumble around before bumping into a couple tracks that just go bananas – but it could be said to be part of the practiced, polished appeal of the disc.  And I doubt I’ll ever be able to connect with Malkmus’ lyrics, often just hearing rhymes and concepts and nothing concrete.  Again, ‘Brighten’ doesn’t change that, but (many of these ‘blah blah BUT’ comparisons for this disc) there’s also not any particular line that makes my eyes roll.  Songs first, smirk later.

It was hard to accept what came before and after this after loving this disc so much. but I don’t think I would’ve liked ‘Slanted’ had I heard it first, and then subsequently I would’ve spat on ‘Stereo’ as a radio single.  I’m glad fate ordered events for me as such and I got my chance to be part of the Pavement fan crew for a while.