"Pavement"^^ . . . . . . . . . . "Pavement"^^ . "Slouched, quirky, lovingly fractured and armed with some of the best songs that ever came out of the 90s, Stephen Malkmus (who still enjoys a fruitful solo career) and his band of lo-fi troopers made indie suddenly very cool again. Instead of channelling the clear inspiration of Sonic Youth and Pixies into spitting catharsis like a certain Mr Cobain (Nirvana released 'Nevermind' the year before Pavement's 1992 seminal debut 'Slanted And Enchanted'), Pavement wrote seemingly ramshackle songs with real heart, wit and bite. Alongside Sebadoh they defined the American independence of the era. "^^ .