Rating: Yes

Matador

Taking off where Brighten the Corners left off, this time they take the song writing to another level, one step closer to mainstream. "Major Leagues" is a nearly perfect pop song that everyone could love, except radio, that is. Same's true for "Spit on a Stranger," "Ann Don't Cry," "You Are a Light"... why it's a veritable smorgasbord of laid-back So-Cal rock. Is Pavement the new Eagles? Hardly. Just when you think you've got them pegged, they throw in a wild pitch like the almost unlistenable "Platform Blues" just to convince you that yes, this is the same band that helped make lo-fi vogue with Slanted and Enchanted. And no one remembers that one but the critics, it seems.

At their best, they always reminded you of the Velvets, with our boy S.M. singing the way Lou would if Lou could sing. But while Lou would take you by the hand through the seamy side of Brooklyn, S.M. prefers vague introspection with clever lyrics and lines that you'll be scratching your head over until the next CD comes out.

Like the lyrics, the songs are best when  kept simple. It's when someone gets a big idea and turns a track into an overblown prog-rock mess that we wonder why they bothered to stray from the straightaway rock 'n' roll formula that they've been evolving toward between the noisemakers on their earlier albums. If Brighten... was the proposal, Terror Twilight is the walk to the alter, a commitment to providing flawless downbeat pop music, with only the occasional nod at enchanting ex-girlfriends.

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Copyright © 1999 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.