Pavement Album: “Watery, Domestic”

One of the best 10 minute albums yet seen: four very clever tracks of high energy, enjoyable Slanted-and-Enchanted-style rock packaged up nicely for those short trips to the market on Sunday... it's even got a chicken on the cover to remind you to get eggs. If you like Slanted and Enchanted, you'll love Watery, Domestic... it goes for a watered-down price too.

If you like Pavement--buy this record. If you don't like Pavement, or don't know anything about them--buy this record. I could listen to it over and over and over...and have been known to do just that on occasion. Get it on vinyl if you can.

pavement is a band that relies on pop genius together with a certain melodic and emotional evasiveness, which combines to inspire a unique sort of hushed fascination.

Given the general obliquity of the band, it really fits all too well that some of their best material is stuck on a four-song ep that's over just as you start to fall in love with it. It's the old pavement trick: give you the sugar-pop goods, take them away, give them back, take them away again. You'll never quite figure it out, and that's why it'll always be special.

Watery, domestic is maybe the best thing pavement's ever released. As with all pavement, it's perfection not just because of what you hear, but also because of what you don't hear.

If you don't like pavement, this wont change your mind. If you do like pavement, you should know that this is easily the greatest 10 minute album of all time. It's great for long car trips on I-87 or I-91, and to a lesser extent, I-95. It makes me wish it were 1992 again, when Pavement couldn't play live, but everybody loved them anyway.

First heard this on Radio 1 in 1991 - John Peel seemed to play this over and over and over again that autumn - my untrained ear heard another booooorrrring Sonic Youth nod at first, but the 54th time or so, it rubbed off and I was hooked.