Pavement - Wowee Zowee (album)
Long heralded as their difficult album, Pavements ‘Wowee Zowee’ affords listeners the opportunity to revisit the record through the rose-tinted spectacle of the bands split.
Touching a Lou Reed moment on ‘We Dance’ with Malkmus aping ‘Satellite of Love’, the album itself benefits from the revisit with the quirky lyrics and challenging musical deliveries working today as much as ever.
At times the genius of Pavement is on show for all to see but there are moments when the band extends themselves too much and the critical reaction at the time can be seen to being harsh but possibly fair. If may lack the commercial or respected moments of other Pavement records but ‘Wowee Zowee’ manages to stand up for itself, even today.
The live tracks are definitely for fans only and 18 previously unreleased songs is a lot for anyone but even casual Pavement admirers should gain enjoyment from them.
4/5
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