Pavement

Pavement

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SMELLS LIKE ALTERNA SPIRIT
With Terror Twilight, Steve Malkmus & Co. Prove It: Indie Rock Ain't Dead Yet
Don't believe the hype. Critics may be claiming that indie rock is a thing of the past, but Pavement, the dreamiest band in Indieland, don't seem to have heard the discouraging word. Their new TERROR TWILIGHT -- the follow-up to 1997's poll-topping BRIGHTEN THE CORNERS -- is an inspired mess of sunset scenes, spindly guitar magic, and lyrics so loopy they'd give your English teacher whiplash. From the gentle opening of the slacker love anthem "Spit on a Stranger" to the shimmering reverie of "The Hexx" and the loopy wah-wah guitar of "... and Carrot Rope," this is the band's most endearingly unconventional CD to date. Jon Dolan caught up with the alterna-king at home in Portland, Oregon, and discovered that a wide range of influences -- from avant-garde jazz to Scottish folk music -- may be the reason why.

barnesandnoble.com: People seem to be saying guitar bands are dead. What indie-rock album would you give to someone who thinks guitar bands have gone the way of the buffalo?

Steve Malkmus: Sonic Youth's last record, A THOUSAND LEAVES. I think it's well done -- one of their better ones in the decade. It's got a nice vibe.

bn: What other discs are in heavy rotation on your CD player right now?

SM: ORNETTE AT 12 by Ornette Coleman, because he's the greatest saxophone player in the world, and BAYOU COUNTRY by Creedence Clearwater Revival, because John Fogerty is the best songwriter in the world. I've also been listening to Sam Rivers, who is a great instrumentalist -- tenor and soprano saxophone and flute; he's very beautiful. And COPPERS AND BRASS by Dick Gaughan, a Scottish acoustic guitar player. It's good guitar music to listen to for relaxing and sweeping up the house.

bn: Anything else?

SM: Well, I listen to everything on [Pavement's record label] Matador.

bn: Matador has been doing some electronica stuff lately. Are we going to see you doing drum 'n' bass remixes of Liz Phair any time soon?

SM: When I fail at the song thing I'll move on to remixing. That seems to be the trend. Fail at the guitar -- turn to turntablism.

bn: Along those lines, there are rumors that this might be your last record. Is that true?

SM: I hope not.

bn: What do you think of TERROR TWILIGHT?

SM: I like it. But I can listen to it now and hear a lot of mistakes.

bn: But isn't that what people want from Pavement?

SM: Yeah, I guess so. But I think there are points where I got a little lazy with the lyrics.

bn: I don't know, I think they're pretty great. On BRIGHTEN THE CORNERS people said you were writing in the style of surrealist poet John Ashbury. Did you have any similar stylistic inspiration on this record?

SM: [Laughs] I should have made them all one-word poems. So, the whole song would just be, like, 'Light.' "

bn: Let's say you could rewrite all your wrongs. What song do you wish you had written, and why?

SM: If it was gonna be pop music, I guess it would be some song that everyone knows -- a Christmas carol, "The First Noel," or something like that. [He sings it and laughs.]