A Listening Club Review of
Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain by Pavement, 1994.
Rating: 9.0/10
Pavement’s sophomore album is considered a seminal indie record of the 90s and their most accessible album. They polish their lo-fi sounds from their previous record, Slanted And Enchanted, but they stay true to their identity and maintain their raggedness. The record sounds as if it was made by typical 90s slackers, but it exudes a special type of charm that appeals both to hipsters and the mainstream. Vocalist Stephen Malkmus does a great job with his alluring sound and lyrics that poke fun of the music industry, pop culture, and himself. The instrumentals feel rough with seemingly improvised crescendos, but this only adds to the lo-fi charm of the record. This record reminds me of what would follow later in the 2000s indie rock scene, especially The Strokes, with their gorgeous melodies and the charm of Casablancas combined with instrumentation that doesn’t sound polished. Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain sounds like what a “cool” hipster of the 90s would listen to in an era where rock music became a cash grab for the industry and jaded the mainstream with new bands each and every day.
Fav Tracks: “Silence Kid”, “Cut Your Hair”, “Newark Wilder”, “Gold Soundz”
Least Fav: “Hit the Plane Down”
-Jaskaran, ‘21
