Pavement, American band whose foppish lyrics and punk-derived sonic textures merged into a free-floating poetry of reference that epitomized 1990s college rock. The original members were lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter Stephen Malkmus (also known as S.M.; b. May 30, 1966, Santa Monica, California, U.S.) and guitarist Scott Kannberg (also known as Spiral Stairs; b. August 30, 1966, Stockton, California). Manic original drummer Gary Young (b. c. 1954, Marmaroneck, New York), a counterculture veteran who ran the studio where Pavement initially recorded, was replaced by Steve West (b. 1967, Richmond, Virginia) in 1993. Percussionist Bob Nastanovich (b. August 27, 1967, Rochester, New York) and bassist Mark Ibold (b. 1962, Cincinnati, Ohio) joined in 1991 and 1990, respectively.
Formed in Stockton, California, in 1989, Pavement was among the first musical groups to come of age inside the indie rock subculture, forming their musical identities by listening to R.E.M. and collecting obscure records on small labels. Its first releases, later compiled into the 1993 album Westing (by Musket and Sextant), offered compressed snippets of industrial sound and shards of surprisingly melodic low-fi pop (from low fidelity; music made with rudimentary recording equipment such as four-track tapes). But Slanted and Enchanted (1992) revealed a new grandeur, with enigmatic anthems of subcultural devotion such as “Summer Babe” and “In the Mouth a Desert” treating the slacker life as a birthright. Malkmus’s forever puzzled, laid-back persona (he prided himself on coasting) recast punk: instead of rebellion, Pavement emphasized the enchantments of rarefied self-expression.
Even so, the commercial breakthrough of alternative rock with Nirvana’s Nevermind (1991) proved too obvious a target for Malkmus to resist, and 1994’s Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain sniped at groups such as the Smashing Pumpkins and the Stone Temple Pilots, while also slicking up the pop enough to get Pavement some MTV exposure with the “Cut Your Hair” music video. But instead of further pursuing what Malkmus called “gold soundz,” Pavement’s next album, Wowee Zowee! (1995), spurned the Lollapalooza (see rock festivals) audience with sophisticated experimental jams. The subsequent Brighten the Corners (1997) and Terror Twilight (1999) were lyrical and contained elements that increasingly foreshadowed Malkmus’s desire for a solo career.
Malkmus announced the dissolution of Pavement in the fall of 2000. He released his eponymous debut album in February 2001, followed by Pig Lib (2003), Face the Truth (2005), Real Emotional Trash (2008), Wig Out at Jagbags (2014), and Sparkle Hard (2018), all with his new assemblage, the Jicks, who in 2008–11 included former Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss. Weiss, like Malkmus, lived in Portland, Oregon, where slacker collegiate types had bought homes and become parents. Even before the breakup of Pavement, Malkmus and Nastanovich had begun a side project with David Berman, recording as Silver Jews. Malkmus also recorded the solo albums Groove Denied (2019) and Traditional Techniques (2020). Kannberg’s post-Pavement band, Preston School of Industry, proved less interesting than either of Malkmus’s groups.
Rumours of a possible Pavement reunion were a regular, if unfounded, occurrence in the world of rock journalism throughout the early 2000s. Although the band reunited and toured in 2010, it dissolved again shortly thereafter.