Wowee Zowee

前作『Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain』で認知度を上げたペイヴメントが、次に放ったのが今作。ロックを小ばかにしていた彼らですが、この作品ではリズム・フレーズなど、良質なロックに必要な要素が存分に詰まっています。ソングライティング力の高さが伺える"Father to a Sister of Thought"、ギターアレンジが絶品の"Grounded"、そしてアルバム全体で聴ける多種多様な間奏が素晴らしい。「最もペイヴメントっぽいアルバム」との評価もされている傑作。 (C)廣川奏

Mojo - "...Stephen Malkmus' decision to spurn the enticing, flippant pop classic path...in favour of a nettly rummage through the sonic undergrowth, bespeaks the depth of his loyalty to the voices in his head....Heartfelt..." Musician - "...Pavement spent 1994 touring, and WOWEE ZOWEE benefits as a result. The rhythm section...has cohered, and plays on the album like bandmembers rather than hired hands. The group has also continued expanding their sonic repetoire....delivers on all counts..." Uncut - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Songs derail into unexpected territories....Adventurous..." Q - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...Over-packed, sometimes too oblique for its own good and occasionally not that great, but it's pure Pavement." NME - Ranked #16 in NME's `Top 50 Albums Of The Year' for 1995 - "...the wilful, askew guitar dissidence of Pavement's distant past meets their surprising melodic eloquence of CROOKED RAIN and carves out their most rewarding album yet." Option - "...With WOWEE ZOWEE, Pavement has proven unequivocally that they will never be superstars. Not because this record isn't worthwhile, but because they are uncompromising..." Village Voice - Ranked #17 in the Village Voice's 1995 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll. Melody Maker - Ranked #39 on Melody Maker's list of 1995's `Albums Of The Year' - "...inspired near nonsense, berserk tempo changes, wilfully obtuse hipster references and poignant, hooky, pure pop..." Rolling Stone - Ranked #12 in Rolling Stone's "50 Coolest Records" - "...Warm, spaced-out guitar doodles; Malkmus murmurs like a surfer-dude Buddy Holly..." Spin - 7 (out of 10) - "...Pavement crafts the everything aesthetic into real songs....[Stephen] Malkmus, the eternal sophisticate...[is] the sexiest word-mangler in the business....Occasionally--the lyric-drunk `Rattled By The Rush,' the stuttered chorus of `AT&T'...--the results rank with Pavement's hallowed best..." Q - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Pavement's third album found them branching out stylistically....The one constant is Stephen Malkmus's pop nous, which underpins 'AT&T' to impressive effect." Spin - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Slanted and tortured slow-dissolve rockers about generational angst plus tunes that cuddle your brain." Rolling Stone - Ranked #3 in Rolling Stone's "The Top 10 Reissues Of 2006" -- "[T]here is a striking, psychedelic glow to the grind and wobble of 'Grounded' and 'Motion Suggests Itself'..." Spin - Ranked #1 in Spin's "The 10 Best Reissues of 2006" -- "The word games were never so hermetic, the guitar tangle never so dire." Rolling Stone (4/11/02, p.106) - Ranked #12 in Rolling Stone's "50 Coolest Records" - "...Warm, spaced-out guitar doodles; Malkmus murmurs like a surfer-dude Buddy Holly..." Village Voice (2/20/96) - Ranked #17 in the Village Voice's 1995 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll. Melody Maker (12/23-30/95, pp.66-67) - Ranked #39 on Melody Maker's list of 1995's `Albums Of The Year' - "...inspired near nonsense, berserk tempo changes, wilfully obtuse hipster references and poignant, hooky, pure pop..." NME (12/23-30/95, pp.22-23) - Ranked #16 in NME's `Top 50 Albums Of The Year' for 1995 - "...the wilful, askew guitar dissidence of Pavement's distant past meets their surprising melodic eloquence of CROOKED RAIN and carves out their most rewarding album yet." Spin (5/95, p.93) - 7 (out of 10) - "...Pavement crafts the everything aesthetic into real songs....[Stephen] Malkmus, the eternal sophisticate...[is] the sexiest word-mangler in the business....Occasionally--the lyric-drunk `Rattled By The Rush,' the stuttered chorus of `AT&T'...--the results rank with Pavement's hallowed best..." Musician (7/95, p.105) - "...Pavement spent 1994 touring, and WOWEE ZOWEE benefits as a result. The rhythm section...has cohered, and plays on the album like bandmembers rather than hired hands. The group has also continued expanding their sonic repetoire....delivers on all counts..." Q (5/95, p.110) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...Over-packed

WOWEE ZOWEE is a knowing, minor-key discombobulation of heavy post-punk and rock experimentalism amidst a slew of expansive country-rock songs. Production-wise, it's a clean record, a step closer to the mainstream. Structure-wise, it's a step away. You can easily read this sound as a reaction to Pavement suddenly having turned into a hot commercial commodity after 1994's critically praised CROOKED RAIN, CROOKED RAIN. Pavement is now a next-big-thing that doesn't want to be one. Both in structure and lyrics, songs like "Rattled By The Rush", "Brinx Job" and "Serpentine Pad" sneer at thoughtless alt-rock careerism, even as they try to figure out a way to survive it with the soul intact.
But while it works to offend and confound listeners, Pavement can't hide a certain sheer-pop glee that has always been present in its music. "Grounded" and "Kennel District" are what you might call Pavement rock--guitarrorist pop songs that aim to challenge you sonically while injecting you with a direct pop thrill. Those songs and the acoustic "We Dance" are also perfect examples of the emotional accuracy that singer-guitarists Stephen Malkmus (who has now taken to calling himself S.M. Jenkins) and Spiral Stairs can portray. When they combine such insight with guitar sounds of the future, this best of all post-Nirvana, American rock bands flies in directions others haven't even pondered.|