Back in the 90s when the grunge scene was erupting and everyone was wearing stupid amounts of denim, a bunch of stoners formed a band by the name of Pavement. Low-fi, Punk, Blues, Country, Rock - the band incorporated a multitude of styles throughout their work while still having a very distinctive sound, which I'm willing to attribute to Steven Malkmus' boyish voice. Post 90s, the indie scene erupted and took over normal radio, even being criticised as the new 'pop' by some cynics - and I'd like to believe that Pavement had a hand in shaping the modern indie sound as we know it.
Strangely enough though, most of my sources say that they were never big in the mainstream and gathered a relatively large underground following. They had one big hit with the song 'Cut Your Hair' but that was about all the attention they received through conventional channels while other bands such as Smashing Pumpkins and other bands that would score big on most critics lists were taking that attention for them.
In many ways I consider Pavement an equal (if not better), and that's mainly because they were a fun band to listen to while still being talented and never sticking to a pre-set convention. Most of their albums are similar, but they don't sound much like other bands of the time, save for their first album which held a distinctive 'grunge-rock 90's' kind of vibe.
It's very easy listening for the most part, the kind of thing you can slap on anywhere and feel comfortable listening to it. The earlier albums are more experimental and noisy, while the last two albums are very well constructed and more like indie with a little bit of pop. One of my favourite bands out there. Have a listen!
Shady Lane, off Brighten the Corners, their 4th album of 5.
It's a fun, simple riff. Super catchy.
You are a Light, off Terror Twilight, their final album.
That end riffwork is fucking brilliant, stuff like that is why I've ended up really appreciating the band.
Cut Your Hair, off Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain.
This was their 'big hit'. I remember seeing this video clip as a kid but never got into the band until this year which was a bit of a shock when I finally heard it on the album.
There's plenty more. Go hit youtube!
