4.1/5.0: a fun song to listen to, but don’t expect any musical virtuosity
Pavement’s album Brighten the Corners begins with this opening track, dubbed “Stereo.” A guitar introduces itself over the first two measures, then carries over into a third before being interrupted by a interjection from the bass. Their sparse banter fuses together into an atmospheric dim as light drums fill out the rhythm section. Just under half a minute into the song, singer Stephen Malkmus (whom you may recognize from David Berman’s Silver Jews) starts his frolicking conversational verse. Malkmus rambles on about nonsensical whims and thoughts, happily speaking over fun melodies stolen from children’s songs until the second half of the chorus erupts in an explosion of distorted guitars; then the ephemeral ecstasy blends right back into a second verse, as the electric strings wail briefly about being cut short. “What about the voice of Geddy Lee? How did it get so high?” pontificates a pensive Malkmus; such are the thoughts of a person in the self-proclaimed limelight of your own stereo. A fun little instrumental bridge carries over to a third verse of more rhymed, alliterative rambling; then the chorus repeats, closing the song reminiscent of the high it gave the first time around. It’s Cake plus Jet, with some Danielson thrown in for kicks.
9 comments:
Jet is a bunch of guys who piss on 70's rock and then republish it. Pavement is a bunch of guys who created indie rock as we know it. I don't see the comparison. Maybe the straight forward vocal styles of Cake. And if anything Danielson would be emulating Pavement (and I don't really see how their twee pop is really relevant)
cyrus approves of this song.
it's their sound, not their influences, you bum. i've heard people say that rush sounds like dream theater or porcupine tree, but it's rush that influenced them.
considering the -for the most part- utter lack of musical knowledge evidenced by the public, drawing references to more mainstream artists makes for good parallels. i could say that pavement influenced blah and laid the foundation for bleh, but most people wouldn't know what i would be talking about.
I honestly see no connection with Jet at all though. They both have guitars?
guys stop posting here and talk about Street Waves, this song does rock tho harrison nice pick
i dunno, the style of distortion combined with idle picking on the guitar instantly made me think of the end of almost every single jet song (distortion on rhythm guitar fading out). the energetic chorus guitar riff also reminded me of them (much more off of get born than shine on - shine on is utter defecation on a disc, and most connections can conclusively be taken as an insult).
you're so wrong harrison BONG
-sebastian gilbert
oh, but i'm right. some people just aren't willing to accept a point of view not taken from an obscure article somewhere, written by someone with the vast internet at their disposal and no concept of musical theory whatsoever. listen to the song for what it is, a tree in the forest of pavement's work. their entire musical collection as a whole may not resemble the bands i listed (or rather, the same types of people don't listen to them), but this song in particular certainly does. the last time i checked i reviewed a song, not an album, nor an artist. it's time that people start listening to music for what it is: sonic vibrations arranged in certain frequencies. screw all of the history and background information for a few minutes and just ~listen~.
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