Fight This Generation: 6 Pavement Factoids

You may not be familiar with messrs Malkemus, Nastanovich, Kannberg, West and Ibold but you will almost certainly have come across Blur’s ‘Song 2’. When Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon chose in 1997 to up sticks from the Britpop rat race, the Pavement patented model of slacker rock was the blueprint upon which they based their transformation. Today then with their greatest hits compilation Quarantine The Past hitting all good record stores, we thought now was the time for an introduction into the world of these indie rock icons via 6 specially chosen pieces of trivia.

1) The band’s first drummer Gary Young gained notoriety with his on and offstage antics. He was noted for greeting the audience at the door, giving out cabbage, mashed potatoes or cinnamon toast to fans and running around the venue and stage while the rest of the band was playing.

2) Young quit at the end of a 1993 tour of Australia, Japan, and Europe and was replaced by Steve West a fellow museum security guard with Malkmus at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

3) The lyrics from "Range Life", a single from the Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain record, criticized alternative rock stars The Smashing Pumpkins and the Stone Temple Pilots. In response Smashing Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan threatened to drop his band from their slot headlining the 1994 Lollapalooza Festival if Pavement was allowed to play.

4) In their review for the third Pavement album Wowee Zowee, Rolling Stone speculated that the relative success of their previous album was a reason for this album’s eclectic nature. Stephen Malkmus later refuted this, attributing the stylistic shift to excessive marijuana consumption.

5) Nigel Godrich, best known for his work with Radiohead, Beck and R.E.M., was hired to produce Twilight Terror the fifth and final Pavement album.  Though the producer took an immediate shine to Malkmus; Kannberg and Nastanovich were wary of him. Nastanovich later recalled an awkward incident where it became apparent—about ten days into the sessions—that the producer didn’t know the auxiliary percussionist’s name.

6) For their split statement a spokesperson for Domino records told NME: "Pavement are retiring for the forseeable future to: 1. Start families 2. Sail around the world 3. Get into the computer industry 4. Dance 5. Get some attention."