PO5: Worst Pavement and Malkmus tracks

"hopscotch willie" x 5

I just don't like Shady Lane.

Neptune Avenue

whichever one that has the line "never looked hard at a foetus in a jar"

Saginaw is great! Malkmus impersonating/parodying Will Oldham.
― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, February 27, 2007 9:52 AM (eleven years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The "liberaaaaals" vocal in Type Slowly is clearly a Will Oldham pastiche as well.

?

"Fame Throwa"? Seriously? While "Chesley's Little Wrists" is a thing that exists? High school me is terribly upset by some 2003 posters.

2003 posters generally think everything is shit and has gone to shit

Here are my least-fave Malkmus-penned Pavement songs:

Range Life
My First Mine
Shady Lane
Embassy Row
Ann Don’t Cry

(Im not too familiar w/solo Malk; and including Spiral songs in a “worst-of” list doesn’t seem fair 😜)

worst SM Pavement song is Saganaw

Pacific Trim is all pretty good IMHO. There's a whole bunch of other B-sides from the second half of Pavement's discography I can't even bring myself to check now. Most tracks that aren't named 'Harness Your Hopes', probably. Any thoroughly researched PO5 of mine would surely be dominated by that stuff.

Yeah I dig Pacific Trim... was just thinking the other day how cool it was when it came out, as kind of a chaser to Wowee Zowee. The songs on the EP are all unique and distinctive — fully realized, yet not really like any other songs in the band’s repertoire.

(I remember a guy in a class of mine declaring that Pacific Trim was “a mini Beatles album”... like he had discovered a skeleton key. I was like, OK...)

Embassy Row and Range Life are among my top favourite Pavement songs, morrisp

I like those 2, but I hate Shady Lane and loads of people love that one.

Shady Lane was my intro to them I think? I have a hard time listneing to it objectively

This thread has inspired me to do a deep dive into the Pavement catalog. I was never all that into them.

Embassy Row and Range Life are among my top favourite Pavement songs, morrisp

You must like that album, then! I’ve always liked it... I would probably skip those songs if I played it today, though.

they're on different albums though?

Embassy Row is definitely a highlight on BTC. One of the only fast ones

agreed ^^

and Range Life is a highlight on one of the best rock albums ever

and i agree with everyone that Pacific Trim is good (including I Love Perth) EXCEPT Saganaw, which is a DIRGE

xxp
Haha, sorry — somehow I thought you said “Shady Lane”!

“Saginaw” is a dirge, but dirges aren’t necessarily bad (and uptempo tracks aren’t necessarily good)...

Otm Some crazy fuck above mentioned Fillmore Jive. That's a dirge but it's beautiful.

Ok. Here's my challop I've never enjoyed Cut Your Hair. I always skip it on one my favourite albums.

you and every indie dude in the 90s lol. I go back and forth on it and right now I like it

Whenever I ask Alexa to "play Pavement," it invariably starts off with their cover of the Descendents' "It's a Hectic World" -- which may be the least Pavement-sounding Pavement recording (and probably the last one I'd ever want to hear).

Xp sure yeah. But it was such a disappointment after Watery Domestic.

I did however fully embrace and still adore Stereo, which I guess was their nearest equivalent. And a great tune.

I guess this isn't that thread though.

Just Scott's songs right?

revived because i was listening to btc for the first time in ages and i heard that line and it struck me immediately as a will oldham take. that said slowly typed is one of the worst ever pavement songs.

Shady Lane is p good but would be p great if second half was chopped off

The spacey outro? That part's good!

Listening to "TT" now (Godrich track order) -- I'm gonna take "Ann Don't Cry" off my list, and sub in "Major Leagues." I know this is really important stuff!

For a long time I would have told you that "TT" is a weaker album than "BTC," but I now hold the opposite p.o.v. (also really important for you to know)

yeah I think that's become the more accepted view & I agree

Gotta make another revision to my list above -- I realized that "Mercy: The Laundromat" is the track I dislike most at the end of Westing (...not "My First Mine").

the foregoing has been another quality thread revive by morrisp

Least favorite, eh? *cracks knuckles gamely*