WIXQ DJ's Recommended Music
Each week our disc jockeys recommend the best new music that you need to hear. Listen for this music on our radio station and support new music!Recent DJ Posts All Disc Jockey Posts
Pavement - Brighten The Corners
Posted: 3/11/2023 by Hunter Rowe ( See All) Show: Wednesday from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM(1997) In my not-so-professional opinion, Pavement is a really important band for its time. A true pioneer of the College Rock/ Slacker Rock community and how its music would shape things as time moves on. Pavement has managed to stand the test of time and create something that's just as good now as it was over 20 years ago.
Brighten the Corners is no exception to the previous statement. Fusing an experimental artsy side with modern rock stylings such as grunge creates a slacker rock gem. Of all the Pavement albums this one is sure to not disappoint.
Every track maintains this crisp and refreshing sound that makes everything more and more fun to listen to. Tracks like Embassy Row are so energetic and fun that they fit perfectly as the soundtrack for some 20-something's coming-of-age story. Everything here gives a feeling of being a product of the time in all the best ways possible.
On the other side of that coin is the cons that any album may have. While many tracks manage to knock it out of the park there are a few that do one thing or another to fail to reach the mark. The two biggest things are...
1) Overstaying their welcome. Tracks like Fin and Type Slowly run just over 5 minutes and they feel like they run out of steam at least a minute early and it's just trying to fill space on the record. These songs have moments but the time arises when the song feels like it should end yet continues on.
2) Never fully reach their potential. Some tracks on this album tend to feel like there should be something more in them yet they never reach that point. The biggest case of this in my opinion is Blue Hawaiian. This song had a lot of potentials but it feels like it spends too much time trying to get off the ground and ends up being underwhelmed by the time the song finishes. This is mainly caused by the instrumentation being soft for most of the song and the vocals following yet trying to ramp up within the choruses and then unexpectedly at the end of the song making it feel disjointed.
Outside of these this album manages to do so much and do it all right without struggle. This being Pavements 4th album I think it just further showed that they had found their sound and even how to have some extra fun with it. Is it, the best Pavement album? It's a worthy contender. For me, it's a solid 7.5/10 and one of the more fun listens I checked out this year.
Favorite Tracks: Date With Ikea, Stereo, Embassy Row
Least Favorite Tracks: Blue Hawaiian, Type Slowly
Recommended If You Like: Built To Spill, Pixies, Slacker Rock
Link To This Post