Pavement
Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (Matador) (STAR)(STAR) 1/2
Pavement’s new disc may be the most widely anticipated indie-rock release of ’94, which is why it’s a bit of a disappointment. Although “Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain” contains its share of epiphanies-notably the giddy “Cut Your Hair” and the towering anti-anthem “Fillmore Jive”-it also has moments that are highly derivative or disappointingly smug. The new album is more ambitious and cleanly produced than its highly influential, low-fi predecessor, “Slanted and Enchanted.” Besides the blend of Fall-like dissonance, catchy-as-heck riffs and cryptic vocals that made “Slanted” so, well, enchanted, the Stockton, Calif., quintet now dabbles in country-rock (“Range Life”) and Brubeck-like piano jazz (“5-4(equals)Unity”). But borrowed riffs abound, from Humble Pie to the Beatles, and the album’s overriding theme-that of rock’s obsolescence-is about as challenging as shooting tuna in a barrel. Pavement becomes about the billionth indie-rock band to rudely dismiss Smashing Pumpkins and Stone Temple Pilots (on “Range Life”). And on “Fillmore Jive,” singer Steve Malkmus proclaims, “Goodnight to the rock and roll era.” Well, if that’s the way you feel about it, guys, why even bother?
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