Pavement Album: “Wowee Zowee”

When people talk about pavement they tend to "apologize" for the band's excesses (e.g. serpentine pad, brinx job) by referring to it as fun, ironic posturing. that's true to a certain extent, but if there wasn't a lot of genuine emotion behind those songs, they'd wear thin after a few listens, and you'd only tolerate it if you were in a jokey mood. What I've come to realize is that on this album, pavement attains possibly its greatest depth of emotion of all their albums. "Brighten the corners" may have catchier melodies (open to debate, but quite possible), but as one reviewer said, it wears a little thin on repeated listenings-- the reason, I think, is that the emotion isn't as genuine: it comes across as a forced sort of irony that isn't always convincing. In contrast, some of the songs on WZ will sound really weird the first time you hear them, but give the album a lot of listens and I think you'll notice: the lyrics begin to make sense in oblique, stream-of-consciousness ways, the angst, annoyance, anger, frustration, (joy?) etc. of malkmus & co start to come out quite convincingly and you begin to get that empathic connection with the music that's really quite rare.

That's a lot of typing to have to read, but suffice it to say: this album is spectacularly, uniquely moving and works well on a bunch of emotional levels. plus it's fun to listen to and it'll satisfy that "indier-than-thou" craving we all get from time to time. :)

Pretty much every thing in the Pavement cannon is worth owning. I remember this album came out and all of my friend's including myself felt like it was a huge disappointment. Well I remember a few weeks later wondering if it was such a disappointment then how come I'm listening to it all the time? I can't recall ever having an album creep up on me and blowing me away like this one did. It turns out all of my friends were on the same page because we spent the entire summer of '94 playing this one. This album is sort of a fractured, eclectic split of pop, avante garde, and rock with tongue in cheek humor. The songs scream, twist, laugh, cry, and often self destruct. The guitar solo on Rattle By The Rush starts out sounding like Jimmy Page, and ends with the notes coming off in demolished pieces. It's the classic Pavement twist- the catchy pop song with something off putting or silly, but still the juxtaposition comes off brilliantly. I've never heard of a band take so many wild chances and land on their feet as well. The disappointment that really happened the time this album came out was the lack of interest this band got on that joke of a tour Lollapalooza put on by that Schmuck Perry Ferrel.

Sometimes I get to thinking weird things about this album. For example, I might ponder, 'Would the 90s have been the 90s without Wowee Zowee? I mean, when they had finished, would it have been worth it? This album is truly the anchor of the 90s.'

But for all my random musings, I will tell you what I do not find myself thinking about it: 'This album is the beginning of the end for Pavement.' That's just wacko.

Wowee Zowee was Pavement's first masterpiece. I've always thought of Pavement first for their exceptional songmanship, their unparalleled talent for complex and creative rock compositions, and second for their lo-fi pop stylings. This is perhaps because I was introduced to them backwards. Hearing their polished work, I was blown away by what this band could do with rock: the zany, bombastic soundscapes of their instrumental break-downs, the mind-blowing melodic interplay and guitar-intertwining that lied beneath Malkmus' nonsensical drone.

All of these brilliant qualities are present and not quite sober in this album. It is, in my opinion, the first complete appearance of Pavement's musical genius: since I have never cared to call them geniuses just for their murky production, or the sloppy imitations of hooks that characterize CRCR. Whether it's the goofy but concise and complex melodic detail of songs like Grave Architecture (trust me it's there), or the awe-inspiring adventurous soundscapes of songs like Grounded, Wowee Zowee is soaked with catchy, fun, hard-rocking brilliance. At times subtle, at times jarring, but always bold and fully-realized, it's a truly unique album that has become one of the cornerstones of what I consider great music. A masterpiece.

The strangest album they ever made and the best album I own. This album is a litmus test for one's musical taste. Sure I love all of the Pavement I own and god bless them for ep's with more than one b-side and an instrumental. But this album alone justifies Pavement's existence. It's the first album I owned by the band (finding Pavement in Puritanville CT is not so easy - a far cry from Stockton California I guess) and upon first listening I thought that I was wrong for buying it. But then one day while driving while "Grave Architecture" was on then the rest of the songs to the very end I thought were just one complete song. I had to check the track list to assure myself of their beginning and end. And if "Fight This Generation" doesn't make you want to do something then check your pulse. Especially during the synthesizer solo.

And for those who forgot, poetry is saying I love you by expressly not using the words I love you. Pavement forgets not. Face it, poetry is dead, but Pavement lives.

And you might just come to the undeniable conclusion that "Wowee Zowee" is the best album made in the last decade. When I first started listening, I found it self-indulgent and just plain ugly. Then you realize their amazing ability to take dissonance and twist it into gorgeous melody; and you realize the enormous diversity of feeling the record conveys. Yeah, the John Ashbery-like whimsy of the lyrics may border on nihilism, but somehow these songs get deep under your skin and move you. And with the possible exception of Pulp's "Common People", "Grounded" is the best song written in the '90s.