Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain

Rolling Stone (2/24/94, p.55) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...an album that's darker and more beguiling than their heralded previous efforts....CROOKED RAIN's clean production and insidiously catchy melodies hardly signify that Pavement have sold out--if anything, their vision is more warped and caustic than before...." Rolling Stone (p.94) - 5 stars out of 5 - "[S]uperbly crafted rock that only seemed splayed at the edges." Rolling Stone (p.154) - Included in Rolling Stone's The 10 Best Reissues & Anthologies Of 2004 - "[T]welve songs of stumbling majesty, cutting jangle and instinctive perfection." Spin (9/99, p.150) - Ranked #62 in Spin Magazine's "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s." Spin (12/94, p.78) - Ranked #13 in Spin's list of the `20 Best Albums Of The Year' - "...magic....New York punk with extra bend..." Spin (pp.115-16) - "[I]t now stands as not just Pavement's best record, but probably the single greatest indie-rock record ever made." - Grade: A+ Entertainment Weekly (p.125) - "[T]his album represents frontman Steve Malkmus's high-water mark as a snarky color commentator on plastic pop culture." - Grade: A- Uncut (p.144) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[T]he band hits a golden seam of song that feels as wide open and free as the Pacific Interstate." Alternative Press (p.98) - "[M]ost bands would give their career to write any of these slacker anthems - and now it's even better." Magnet (p.93) - "[I]t remains the defining statement from the kings of indie rock." The Wire (p.66) - "It was here that their freewheeling, tangential, hipster approach to rock came into sharper focus." Melody Maker (2/5/94, p.28) - "...So good they named it twice....Pavement invent and invert and kick ass and kick the brow of greatness...." Village Voice (2/28/95) - Ranked #2 in the Village Voice's 1994 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll. Village Voice (2/22/94, p.61) - "...Like R.E.M., whose taste for romantic melodicism and lyrical obscurity they equal if not exceed, and Sonic Youth, whose love of noise and the underground that nurtures it they share, Pavement are American originals..." - Rating: A Mojo (Publisher) (p.60) - Ranked #56 in Mojo's "100 Modern Classics" -- "[T]he band employs a greater attention to detail to seamlessly blend the [songs]..." Mojo (Publisher) (p.110) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[I]t glowed with balmy West Coast harmonies and summery pop licks." New York Times (Publisher) (1/5/95, p.C15) - Included on Neil Strauss' list of the Top 10 Albums Of '94 - "...[CROOKED RAIN] has so many twists, turns, allusions and contradictions that it deserves its own set of Cliff Notes." New York Times (Publisher) (3/13/94, p.38) - "...at heart, CROOKED RAIN is an album that celebrates and denigrates itself....an album largely about the plight of rock bands that, like Pavement, are poised between critical and popular success...." NME (Magazine) (12/24/94, p.22) - Ranked #17 in NME's list of the `Top 50 Albums Of 1994.' NME (Magazine) (2/12/94, p.39) - 8 (out of 10) - "...Another set of giant steps, without a doubt..."

It may be a bit reductive to call Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain the Reckoning to Slanted & Enchanted's Murmur -- not to mention easy, considering that Pavement recorded a song-long tribute to R.E.M.'s second album during the Crooked Rain sessions -- but there's a certain truth in that statement all the same. Slanted & Enchanted is an enigmatic masterpiece, retaining its mystique after countless spins, but Crooked Rain strips away the hiss and fog of S&E, removing some of Pavement's mystery yet retaining their fractured sound and spirit. It's filled with loose ends and ragged transitions, but compared to the fuzzy, dense Slanted, Crooked Rain is direct and immediately engaging -- it puts the band's casual melodicism, sprawling squalls of feedback, disheveled country-rock, and Stephen Malkmus' deft wordplay in sharp relief. It's the sound of a band discovering its own voice as a band, which is only appropriate because up until Crooked Rain, Pavement was more of a recording project between Malkmus and Scott Kannberg than a full-fledged rock & roll group. During the supporting tour for Slanted, Malkmus and Kannberg recruited bassist Mark Ibold and percussionist Bob Nastanovich, and original drummer Gary Young was replaced by Steve West early into the recording for this album, and the new blood gives the band a different feel, even if the aesthetic hasn't changed much. The full band gives the music a richer, warmer vibe that's as apparent on the rampaging, noise-ravaged "Unfair" as it is on the breezy, sun-kissed country-rock of "Range Life" or its weary, late-night counterpart, "Heaven Is a Truck." Pavement may still be messy, but it's a meaningful, musical messiness from the performance to the production: listen to how "Silence Kit" begins by falling into place with its layers of fuzz guitars, wah wahs, cowbells, thumping bass, and drum fills, how what initially seems random gives way into a lush Californian pop song. That's Crooked Rain a nutshell -- what initially seems chaotic has purpose, leading listeners into the bittersweet heart and impish humor at the core of the album. Many bands attempted to replicate the sound or the vibe of Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, but they never came close to the quicksilver shifts in music and emotion that give this album such lasting appeal. Here, Pavement follow the heartbroken ballad "Stop Breathin'" with the wry, hooky alt-rock hit "Cut Your Hair" without missing a beat. They throw out a jazzy Dave Brubeck tribute in "5-4=Unity" as easily as they mimic the Fall and mock the Happy Mondays on "Hit the Plane Down." By drawing on so many different influences, Pavement discovered its own distinctive voice as a band on Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, creating a vibrant, dynamic, emotionally resonant album that stands as a touchstone of underground rock in the '90s and one of the great albums of its decade. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine