The early 90’s indie rock parade continues! This album was Pavement’s debut with a now-familiar slacker rock feel; somewhat sloppy out of tune guitars, bored-sounding vocals, production that makes it sound like it was recorded in a basement with moldy gray carpets and a cracked leather couch. And you know what? Together, those traits add up to a refreshing and enjoyable album.

I think this is the kind of music that AI will never be able to create. How can you add up such a discordant and imperfect set of inputs to create the vibe of this album? The individual parts could have been recordings of some teenage kids noodling around at Guitar Center, yet the ultimate effect is so much more than that. The equation doesn’t make any sense. It’s like how mathematicians couldn’t make their equations work so they made up imaginary numbers so the equations actually worked out (don’t quote me on the history of imaginary numbers, it’s been years since I was in a math class). There’s an imaginary number at work here, and I think it takes the form of the complementary nature of the individual components - the playing, singing, recording, and production all point the same direction, towards the ultimate vibe that’s been labeled “slacker rock.” It’s a 1+1 = 3 scenario - the music is more than the sum of its parts, somehow. This album would sound worse if they were trying harder - compared to the too-polished music everybody’s cranking out in 2024, it’s extremely refreshing.

Jams

“Trigger cut/Wounded-Kite At :17”
“Here”

From the roundup Jamwise #39 - Best of 1992, Pt. 1.