MMT50 - 219

Meeting Malkmus - a Pavement podcast

This week jD is joined by Kyra from the cornfields of Western Illinois to discuss both her Pavement origin story as well as her perspective on track 19.

Transcript:

Track 2:

[0:00] Previously on the Pavement Top 50. Blackout. So what do you think, Jessica, from Ann Arbor? I think it is a very solid Pavement song. Yeah. Like, I think it belongs in the top 20 to 30. Okay. Because, I don't know, it hits all the right Pavement beats. Hey, this is Westy from the Rock and Roll Band Pavement.

Track 3:

[0:27] And you're listening to The Countdown. Hey, it's J.D. here, back for another episode of our Top 50 Countdown for Seminal Indie Rock Band, Pavement. Week over week, we're going to count down the 50 essential Pavement tracks that you selected with your very own Top 20 ballots. I then tabulated the results using an abacus, six taquitos, and a bottle of bismal. How will your favorite songs fare in the rankings? Rankings you'll need to tune in to find out so there's that this week i'm joined by pavement superfan kyra from the cornfields of western illinois illinois illinois how the fuck is it going my friend it's uh pretty fucking great thank you for asking all right well um let's let's not beat around the bush let's get right into this let's talk about your pavement origin story.

Track 3:

[1:27] Okay um i got into pavement in the early 90s um i um graduated high school in 1994 so that was the year oh cool all right so um so you know um yeah i was 18 years old i was getting ready to graduate high school and um i'd been hearing about pavement you know and like spin and stuff magazine spin magazine and stuff like that and it sounded cool but here in the middle of fucking nowhere cornfield um they just didn't have everything you know or um you know just things were slower to get here maybe yeah stuff like that um but it's a it's a small town western illinois i lived in a town of 800 people 801 people and um i'm right now i'm in the college town that's not far from there which is a town of like 20 000 i think okay western illinois University and that's where I live now and that's where I kind of grew up around here and ended up back here but so anyway I was a teenage kid and I was into Nirvana and Pearl Jam Soundgarden all that all that stuff Alice in Chains but I was also getting into cool stuff I had a really cool curiosity I think you know I was into uh Dinosaur Jr. I was getting into Sonic Youth and uh.

Track 3:

[2:43] Sugar, The Replacements, REM, Morphine, just stuff like that. I think I was getting into alternative type music. And I was also really getting into Bob Dylan around that time. Oh, wow. That's pretty diverse.

Track 3:

[3:00] So Pavement kind of clicked with me. I got that CD called No Alternative. It was a compilation. It had a bunch of cool bands. It had a new Nirvana song on it. I think that's why I wanted to get it, because it had a cool Nirvana. A new hidden track on it or something like that um but the pavement song was really cool it was unseen power of the picket fence which is that weird rem kind of tribute not one of their best tunes but it's fun and it's cool and it introduced me to their how goofy and uh quirky and there's there's their sound and stuff like that right right so and i thought that's cool i like that filed it away maybe, hip-pocketed it. But then I got off work. I worked at the Hardee's here in town, the fast food restaurant. I got off work, went home, and I turned on my little black-and-white TV I had in my room and watched the end of the Jay Leno show. And he had pavement as his guests on his show, and I just, they played Cut Your Hair. Yeah. And it was, I just thought, I fell in love right there. I was like, this is the coolest thing I've ever heard.

Track 3:

[4:17] And... And you're not wrong. Yeah, right? And it was around that time where Kurt Cobain died, too. And I was a big Nirvana fan. And shit was just really serious and heavy and kind of depressing. I was listening to a lot of Pearl Jam and Nirvana and Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. And everybody was a junkie and everybody was depressed. And pavement was a cool thing to come across around that time when I was an 18-year-old impressionable youth. because it wasn't really like that. It was fun, but it still felt very urgent, I felt. Their music felt vital and urgent and had a lot of depth and meaning for an 18-year-old kid, I think. Yeah. So it was a good breather from that serious stuff I've been listening to, and I was just instantly in love with that. And my friend, I think I went to school a couple days later, and my friend's like, hey, I bought that pavement tape that you told me about on Jay Leno or whatever. And he loaned it to me, and it was Crooked Ring, Crooked Ring. And of course, that's the greatest album ever made. So that was a pretty big one to get and get into. And I fell in love with that instantly, all those great songs. Songs, you know, Gold Sound, Silent Kid, Fillmore Jive, Ranged Life.

Track 3:

[5:47] Every song on that one's a banger, right? It's a masterpiece. Yeah, so I got into that. I was like, well, I got to go get more of this. So I came over here to the record store. We used to have four record stores in this town. Now we have zero. Oh, shit.

Track 3:

[6:02] Sucks but um anyway there's uh i came over here and bought the i saw another pavement cd and it was uh watery domestic chicken on the cover and that that's also the greatest thing ever made the greatest ep ever made i guess the greatest album ever no argument from me right and this was all within like maybe a few weeks a week or a week of each other and i just loved that i thought that was the best best thing i'd ever heard um and yeah i was just in love with paper after that And I was like, this is my band. You found your band. Yeah. And I eventually, over the next few months, started getting the other stuff. I got that Westing, which I don't know if you can see it back there, my little Steve Keen of the Westing cover. A friend gave me that. She bought it down from him in Oklahoma. But anyway, that's a great, that's a cool collection of tunes. And I was like, introduced me to their early stuff, which I thought was pretty cool. But I really like what they were doing currently more, you know, yeah, they're crooked rain stuff and you know And then I started just buying everything I could get from pavement and then I heard slanted enchanted I'm like, holy shit. This is also the greatest album ever made. So Yeah, yeah all that stuff. And then wowie zowie came out like maybe a year later, you know It wasn't very long and that one was pretty amazing too little little more of a head fuck than the other ones which is I.

Track 3:

[7:27] Awesome you know and i just a big fan ever since um did you convert people as well i tried you had like so that you had some sort of echo chamber to be talking about this or were you isolated with your fandom um well that's a good question because my friends some of my friends kind of dug when i dug pavement and when i played it for them but i don't think they were they clicked with it like i I did, where they were totally in love with it, but they enjoyed that album, Crooked Rain and Crooked Rain. I think I might have played them something off Debris Slide or something like that. I don't know about this one, but I remember that. I actually joined the Navy right after I graduated high school and found out in the Navy that nobody liked pavement or heard of pavement.

Track 3:

[8:18] I hardly met anybody. buddy um but i was traveling a lot and i would go to different towns to different record stores and find the find different pavement things so that was kind of fun and i would try to turn people onto it and it didn't really click very much i converted a few people though over the years i guess i had a roommate have people to talk to about it right yeah i had a roommate who was a drummer and i played him uh watery domestic i think and he was just blown away by the drumming I think that's Gary Young, right? Doing the crazy drumming on that one. Yeah, the drumming on that was Texas Never Whispers is so cool. And he was pretty blown away by that. He's like, this drumming is so different and not your typical drumming, I guess. So I converted a few people here and there over the years. Did you ever manage to see them live?

Track 3:

[9:08] I did, yeah, finally, two years ago. Oh, cool. I saw them at the Chicago Theater. Yeah, good venue? They were so good. It's a classic venue, but it's not my preferred type of venue to see them in, but it was a beautiful place, and I was seeing the greatest band ever there. They sounded really good. They sounded so good on that. Yeah, they were great. So um i saw that i saw um steven malchemist and the jicks also when they first went on tour in like 2001 and that was a really cool show yeah yeah um bob was driving the rv and uh selling t-shirts really it just seemed really like a cool little tour um i think steven's um malchemist's girlfriend was in the band kind of for a while there um and she was kind of like doing background own vocals and stuff like that so it was kind of a fun gig um yeah i saw him on the pig lib tour.

Track 3:

[10:13] Uh but i didn't make it out i don't i wonder where he would have played here for pig lib he played at a bar called lee's palace which is like just a great venue to you know just yeah he's into and i like those be with your people right i would rather do that than be at the show the Chicago theater but um this was at the metro where I saw in Chicago which is a it's kind of the cool venue in Chicago where all the cool bands play but um and I'm from small town it's three hours to Chicago for me a three or four hour drive um and you know it's scary in Chicago because it's hard to drive and traffic and stuff like that but that's why I didn't go to a lot of shows when I was a kid.

Track 3:

[10:56] Just because I'm a hillbilly and uh I um didn't make it to see them when I when I would have loved to have seen them when they were at Lollapalooza or playing small clubs and stuff like that, touring behind Slanton and Enchanted. But no, I just kind of didn't get the chance to actually see them. I remember actually my now ex-wife bought me tickets to see them just on a whim. I told her I wanted to go see them in New York when they first reunited, like the reunion in 2010. 2010, I guess it would have been. Yeah, and she actually bought tickets, but we ended up going to Jamaica and getting married instead around the same time, so I had to cancel that. I mean, that's kind of a bust.

Track 3:

[11:45] So I kind of missed the opportunity there, I guess. But yeah, I've just been a huge fan ever since. I always felt like all of their album releases were like an event. And I remember hanging out like when I was stationed in Texas, hanging out with some friends when Bright in the Corners came out.

Track 3:

[12:08] Playing it for them, and they actually really liked some of the songs on it. I remember, like, Stereo and Shady Lane and stuff like that. I thought that stuff could have been a hit. I was like, this stuff's going to be a hit, guys. And they're like, yeah, sure. And, of course, I'm always wrong. I was always wrong about that. I'm actually a radio person. I used to run the alternative rock station here in town when they had one, and I was always a champion of pavement.

Track 3:

[12:32] I do have a funny story, I guess, kind of funny. So I worked for the radio station here in town. there's like this local group of six radio stations yeah um and i was the um i ran the alternative station i was the music director and the dj there and then uh also was like the classic morning classic rock morning show person and um also the news kind of a news person too i just kind of did a lot of things jack of all trades or whatever but um our little station group got bought out by this uh corporate butthole hedge fund dude came down and bought the stations and then fired all the people basically but um they kind of kept me around for a couple months and i learned how to they talked told me i had to do the news so i was the news director and i had to make news stories and stuff like that which not much of a journalist but i was doing i was trying but um eventually they had they were going to fire me too and they did and i knew they were going to fire me so i did not go out without a fight and i um made this news story about how oh, the new owner was a butthole and all this stuff. But, you know, I still had like two something minutes left on my newscast.

Track 3:

[13:40] So I play, I'm like, oh, and here's pavement, gold sounds. And then I put gold sounds in there. And then I broadcast that out the rest of the day. They fired me across the whole area on all six of their stations. And so that went out and I exposed people to pavement and made my little...

Track 3:

[14:03] Snide remarks about the the butthole uh guy who bought the stations and fired everybody and, it was uh it was a good feeling you played gold sounds yeah yeah i just i just thought that was a good it was it was a good length i think it's it's it might be my favorite of their songs i i don't know what i don't have i don't think i have a favorite but i have many but um yeah that Very nostalgic. Yeah, it is. Yeah, it's just got that feel. Yeah, just something wistful about it, I guess.

Track 3:

[14:37] But, yeah, that was... Do you have a go-to record at this point? Like, do you have one that you'll put on, you know, when you're feeling pavement-y? Or does it depend on a specific mood? It's definitely a mood thing. It seems like Wowie Zowie is always getting played around here a lot for some reason. Um because that one's that one's big it's like the white album kind of you know favorite albums so it's a big long one with uh different moods and stuff like that and i kind of it's kind of how i am a moody person so i like the roller coaster ride of that one and i like the kind of woozy sound of a lot of the songs on that one i think it's just this beautiful sounding record and.

Track 3:

[15:20] Um, it's got songs I don't like on it, even like a couple that kind of, I find a little more jarring, but, uh, it's still the one I've been listening to the most, I guess. But I, um, the first three, I think are, you know, the greatest albums ever made. And, um, I like the other ones also. So I have those ones on vinyl. I don't have the last two albums on vinyl and I play a lot of vinyl. So I guess that's why I, um, but my kids are into it too. That's kind of cool. They've, uh, tick tock was the harness your hopes thing. I heard my kids listening to it and I was like, Whoa, that's so cool. And they, uh, they would like, I had a t-shirt and didn't fit me anymore. So they would, they would fight over the t-shirt. They had a couple of daughters.

Track 3:

[16:10] Yeah. Right. But they, uh, they did. I tried to get them a little deeper into it, but they, they know harness your hopes. Which is cool and uh i was like why what does this mean my daughter said it's for a fit check i'm like what the heck is a fit check it's like an outfit showing off your outfit yeah i didn't know that it's been around yeah yeah so that's it's over my head too i'm 50 years old yeah, so i think that's pretty cool and then i've they've gotten into it it's cool seeing younger kids get into it i see it every once in a while i see somebody who's considerably younger than to myself almost in my kids age and getting into Pavement I'm like that's good it means it's I was right this whole time you know about this great band justice.

Track 3:

[16:55] Exactly well Kyra what do you say we flip the record and get into track number 19.

Track 3:

[17:08] Okay alright we'll do that right after this.

Track 3:

[19:46] This week, we're going deep on Box Elder. How are you feeling about song number 19, Kyra, from the COWI? I fucking love Box Elder so much. It's a great song. It's one of the earlier Pavement songs. I think it's a very early Pavement song. Say it's, you know, song number one. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Which is cool. And it's one that really holds up, I think, too. So I was saying, if you're just joining us, I got into Pavement in 1994 at Crook and Rain, and it was awesome. And then I got Watery Domestic, and then I think a few weeks later, I got the Westing collection of tunes. And yeah, I just remember that one, immediately liking that song.

Track 3:

[20:37] One thing I like about it is it's got a twee kind of twee element to it almost like a beat happening or something like that, like K Records Calvin Johnson kind of sound which I didn't really know much about then but when I hear it now and there's also something R.E.M. About that guitar riff on that I agree with you there Early R.E.M., for sure. Yeah, and I know that it was a big influence on them. And I'm a huge R.E.M. fan now. So there's that. And that song, I actually had to look this up, but it said that it's a true collaboration between the two, Stephen and Scott. Spiral, yeah. Yeah, they kind of just, it was his riff, I think, and then Malcolm Husky wrote the lyrics and sang over it. And they didn't really write songs like that before or after. It's kind of one of the only ones that was like really a collaboration like that, I guess. Very. I mean, I think they were all collaborations in one way or the other, but...

Track 3:

[21:42] Yeah, for sure. On that tune. I love the lyrics of the tune. I love the meaning of it. I'm from Vermont, Illinois. Vermont IL, population 801. And Box Elder MO is just, I'm going to head to Box Elder MO. It's just he's going to head to some hillbilly ass town in Missouri. It's kind of what that's what i got out of it anyway um but being from a small town and being somebody who's different i'm a transgender woman um i didn't know it then but it's something i've always felt and it's something i still feel and getting hearing that line i've got to get the fuck out of this town meant something back then and recently maybe in the last couple years that tune is really everyone's like man i really love this song because i love that line i've got to get get the fuck out of this town because i was living in this other small town nearby which is just very, bigotty town and i was ready to get the fuck out of there so i'm glad to be out of that town um had to get the fuck out of that town and come over here to yes box elder love that that it means box elder yeah it's got some deep deep meaning um i think and uh yeah i'm in a place where there's I was in the town, there's not a lot of pavement fans, you know?

Track 3:

[23:02] So get the fuck out of this town. So yeah, it's a cool song. I think their sound and their songwriting improved significantly after that. But as an early tune, I think it's definitely one of their best. And it's one that definitely means something to me, I think, for sure. Love that song. Love Box Elder. It's a good one. What do you think about where it landed on the countdown, number 19?

Track 3:

[23:33] That's actually perfect. Do you think it's a fair spot for it? Yeah. I guess, yeah. I think it's a perfect spot. I mean, considering they made so many other great songs and that they really improved on their sound after that, but also as an early tune and they're finding their sound, I think that was definitely one of the most important songs in there.

Track 3:

[23:56] In their canon of awesome tunes. Well, really, I mean, if you think back, this song was covered by Wedding Present and played by John Peel. And I wonder if John Peel hadn't got his hands or mine wrapped around pavement. Like, they are so huge in the UK. Yeah. And it just makes me wonder what, you know, what would have happened had they not had access to you know john peel it would have been very interesting but so that's how he got into them through wedding presents cover that's how uh my memory is so shit but i feel that sounds yeah okay yeah if i'm wrong send me an email jd meeting malcolmus at gmail.com new email address everybody well kyra it's been good talking to you today from uh western illinois and uh talking about box elder i enjoyed myself i hope you enjoyed yourself and um that's about what we have to say do you have anything you want to plug.

Track 3:

[25:04] Um no i mean i i host a i host a folk uh alternative country americana radio show on tri-states public radio every sunday night at seven o'clock if people are into that sort of stuff um but uh that's what i do but nothing to plug i'm just here to talk about pavement.

Track 3:

[25:25] Love it i love the show it's a it's great show keep up the good work oh thanks that means a lot for real that's what i gotta say this week and uh we'll be back next week with song number 18 we are in the thick of the top 20 my goodness wash your goddamn hands.

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