5 out of 5

Even though ‘Slanted’ is a far cry from ‘Terror Twilight,’ it’s still the sound the somewhat defines Pavement to me.  The band hallmarks of sloppiness and snide are definitely there, but it is much more the anarchic “college” indie rock sound than most of their later work, and also what – to me – seemed to inure people to tossing off ‘you sound like Pavement’ comparisons – if you were music rambly and sarcastic and lo-fi, check.  (Not that Pavement certainly didn’t inspire many to try that route.)  So I always seem to forget about ‘Crooked Rain.’  I forget it netted what I believe was the band’s biggest single, with ‘Cut Your Hair,’ and I just forget how good it is.  Later Pavement would indulge Malkmus’ pop sensibilities, leaving behind the jangle of their early work, only to maybe later reappear in Malk’s solo stuff.  Some of my favorite tracks are on ‘Brighten the Corrners’ or ‘Terror,’ but there’s no denying that the rough edge had been polished by that point, albeit given a purposefully uneven polish to keep things quirky.  So ‘Crooked Rain.’  Taking the group’s whole catalogue into consideration, this is the album where they “found” their sound.  It’s the turning point from slacker rock to slacker pop, and thus maintains the fuzz of the former while nabbing the head-bobbing memorability of the latter, while avoiding the full-on veneer of sneer that Malkmus’ cynical smart lyrics have a tough time not layering on.  Even the Kannberg track on ‘Crooked’ – ‘Hit the Plane Down’ is surprisingly developed and catchy.

In a sparkle of creative sequencing, the disc starts out in wandering ‘Slanted’ territory as ‘Silence Kid’ spends several bars figuring out its groove before congealing into a soaring and rattling conclusion.  ‘Elevate Me Later’ and ‘Stop Breathin’ absolutely show the more clear-cut approach that would occur on upcoming albums, as well as highlighting something that was easier to overlook on ‘Slanted’: that Malkmus is a great singer.  Does he have a great voice?  No, it’s slightly off-key, but his ability to slip-slide between laid back slacker, and the more passionate chorus of ‘Breathin,’ and then the country twang on ‘Range Life’ (which is like an awesome Camper Van Beethoven track) was an absolute key aspect of the band sticking out amongst its indie peers, along with, of course, his catchy song-writing chops.  There’s some fun and silly experimentation here, going full pop with ‘Cut Your Hair’ and funk with ‘5-4 = Unity,’ and slowburn, emotive closer, ‘Fillmore Jive.’

I’ll be honest: I never listen to Pavement.  I can never get into Malkmus’ lyrics, and the music is always just shy of building to something that gives me those tingly butterflies we get from a great song.  I’ve owned all of the band’s albums at different points, because that’s something you do when you’re getting into indie crap, but it was hard to ever really consider myself a Pavement fan.  So with that being said, when I listed to ‘Crooked Rain,’ it’s still easy to hear how much of a masterwork it is.  It’s evolved enough to emerge from the college-rock cocoon of ‘Slanted,’ but not so sassy as the latter-day albums.  Imagining a world where I’d heard this disc before ‘Slanted…’  maybe I would listen to more Pavement.