Perfect Sound Forever....The Birth of Pavement

The late 80’s saw the birth of two genres that would dominate the underground for the next 20 years. In 1989 University of Virginia graduate and museum security guard, Stephen Joseph Malkmus decided to pursue his musical aspirations more seriously. Virginia was not Malkmus’ first choice as a location to start a band. S.M. and longtime friend Scott Kanneberg decided to move to the music capital of the west, Stockton, California. Pavement started as a collaborative effort between the two men though it did not stay this way for too long. Wanting to maintain as much mythical prowess as possible the band members gave themselves nicknames to conceal their identities on the liner notes of their earliest releases. Malkmus was listed simply as SM while his counterpart adopted the name Spiral Stairs. With their covert monikers in place the two men set out to conquer nothing and make a ton of music along the way. Soon after the release of their first seven inch, Slay Tracks (1933-1969), the band adopted Mark Ibold to play bass and Gary Young to bang on some drums. The band began touring and as they played more shows they realized they couldn’t keep time very well so they adopted their then band manager Bob Nostonovich to “keep time.” Bob’s initial roll in the band was literally to just play a snare drum and cymbal on the first count of each measure to ensure that Pavement didn’t sound too terrible. Pavement released Slay Track on their own label titled, Treble Kicker. They pressed 1000 copies themselves and sent them to zines, record companies and record stores in hopes that someone would call them. Pavement began to tour playing only 5 or 6 shows in a given span of time. They began to accumulate a small fan base. A record executive in Chicago ordered 200 copies of Slay Tracks as he quickly sold his previous stock and was being badgered to stock up more. Pavement developed their own sound by collecting and respecting their classic rock roots. Pavement fought for the limelight while others grabbed it accidentally. Pavement grew in popularity slowly and they descended as slowly as they climbed. Conversely another band blew up, and out as quickly as they came and forever changed the way mainstream culture saw music. Nirvana would change the way music fans acted, listened and appreciated. Jovanovic speaks of this in his biography on Pavement (Jovanovic 2004),

“Before Nirvana’s Smells like Teen Spirit came along, the underground was just that, underground. Despite the massive strides made during the 1980s by bands like The Pixies, the new decade was still predominantly filed with local bands playing small venues and riving around in beat up little van. The path for college radio to even just the fringes of the mainstream was still, in other words, one relatively fraught with obstacles. Ten Nirvana came along, Nevermind went to number one in the album charts, and suddenly the underground was overground. Alternative was swiftly anointed the buzzword on TV, on the radio, and in the mainstream music press. Grunge, and all its assorted cultural and fashion related paraphernalia, was everywhere. But when Pavement started out, they still had to fight for recognition and review space in he fanzines." 

Big Cheese....The Rise of Nirvana

            Around the time Pavement was getting their act together another band further north in Seattle was riding the surprise success of their debut record, The band was Nirvana and the album was Bleach. Released June 15, 1989 on Seattle based indie label, Sub Pop, Bleach signaled a significant change in the way mainstream society looked at popular music. Grunge had officially arrived. Labels began to take notice o Nirvana as a band with promise. The bands volatile and dynamic lead singer was the perfect individual to canonize, and eventually become a martyr. All of these roles Kurt Cobain absorbed grudgingly. (Good sentence, just in the wrong place.) After the success of Bleach Nirvana began to entertain the idea of signing with a major label. Both the media and the populous were intrigued by Nirvana. Cobain received added personal pressure to sign to a major label from former indie darlings, Sonic Youth. Bassist Kim Gordon assured Cobain that a major label wasn’t the sell out that it was always pictured as. Eventually Nirvana signed a multi album contract with David Geffen Records, the same label Sonic Youth signed with. Geffen records would release Nirvana’s next two albums and all subsequent material. There are many questions that arise when a band signs a contract with a major label; the most obvious is the question of authenticity. Will the band continue their underground and distinct sound or will they cave into the whims of the man and streamline their sound to fit the radio. 

You Know You’re Right....Nirvana Sell Out

1992 saw the release of Nirvana’s sophomore album titled, 

Nevermind. The album garnered considerable critical acclaim and

 continues to appear in best of lists of the 90s on a regular basis. 

Cobain has been quoted as saying that Nevermind was spawned 

out of his undying love and recent obsession with The Pixies and 

their use of loud/soft song dynamics (Sandford 1995). Nirvana was 

catapulted to a position on the charts and in the public’s eye that 

they were neither aiming for, nor happy with. Nirvanas hardcore 

fans were equally unimpressed as Nevermind presented a 

departure away from the old and more grungy sound that Nirvana 

had exhibited on Bleach. Nirvana had almost willingly sold out. 

Nevermind would go on to sell more than 10 Million 

copies.  Because of the albums success, Nirvana affectively 

destroyed the underground, alternative indie rock authenticity by 

dragging it "grudgingly" into everyone's living room via the sell out 

machine that was MTV. It was no long an alternative, because it 

was the mainstream.