REVIEW: Pavement, Terror Twilight (Matador)
- Steve Kandell
With Producer of the Moment Nigel Godrich (Radiohead's OK Computer Beck's Mutations) taking the helm of the latest Pavement album error Twilight much will be made of the famously lo-fi band's leap into the world of Big Rock Sound, despite the fact that Mutations was little more than a glossier version of Beck's acoustic, homemade K Records releases. But the surprising thing about Terror Twilight is not its fidelity or commercial sheen. The surprising thing is, it's not that good.
The advance word on Terror Twilight was that Godrich had reined in the band's quirkier tendencies towards finally crafting a more coherent, accessible album. (Of course, this is the exact sort of thing that was said upon the release of 1997's Brighten the Corners, but in order to believe that album was truly a step towards pop legitimacy, one would also have to agree with the critical consensus that 1995's Wowee Zowee was a scatterbrained disaster rather than the eclectic tour de force it actually is.) If anything, Wowee Zowee's biggest problem was that it had the misfortune of following Slanted and Enchanted and Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, arguably two of the most important and influential rock albums of the past twenty years, and dared to not sound exactly like them.
The new Pavement album is not a major departure, sonically or otherwise. It serves as a fitting companion piece to Brighten the Corners, chock full of languid, mid-tempo numbers along the lines of that album's "Transport is Arranged," "Type Slowly," "We Are Underused," and "Starlings of the Slipstream." To be sure, there are more trippy sound effects than usual in the background of songs, particularly "You Are the Light," and "Ann Don't Cry" but by no means does this sound like a band reinvented. And for an album that intends to be broadly accessible, it is actually far less catchy upon first listen than its predecessor. Unfortunately, same goes for the 27th listen. This is not because the material is not too oblique, but rather, too staid. The songs are, for the most part, pale imitations of ones that they have already done to perfection.
Part of the fun of any Pavement album is picking out the musical references, real or imagined, embedded within the songs. Squint and you can hear "Pictures of Matchstick Men" in the lumbering "Cream of Gold," "Woman From Tokyo" in the sprawling mini-epic "Speak, See, Remember," and maybe the melody line from Prince's "Diamonds and Pearls" in its intro. Sadly missing from Terror Twilight are any songs from guitarist Scott Kannberg, whose "Kennel District" and "Date With Ikea," proved to be highlights of the last two Pavement albums.
Upon the release of each new R.E.M album starting with Document in 1987, critics would universally decree that Michael Stipe's once mumbled lyrics were finally intelligible, yet no less abstract. People could finally hear for themselves just how little sense the man was making. By the same token, Pavement, a band which is often compared to the R.E.M. of the 80's, takes advantage of its new streamlined musicianship and clarity in production to better showcase frontman Stephen Malkmus' hyperliterate, often surreal bon mots. But while Brighten the Corners had these in spades, Terror Twilight boasts few that stick in the craw, although there's something brilliant about the line "Pardon my birth, I just slipped out," ("Folk Jam").
As the mainstream press hails this album as the breakthrough it is destined not to really be, one has to listen that much harder to the music in order to discern its true worth. The hype is there, the songs just don't quite live up to it. This is by no means a poor album, but given the other albums in the Pavement canon that it must contend with, Terror Twilight can't help but pale in comparison. Though it pains me to say, Pavement have made their first truly lackluster misstep in their esteemed decade long career. They are forgiven. This time.
