You may know Preston School Of Industry (AKA Scott Kannberg, AKA Spiral Stairs) best as the One From Pavement What's Not Stephen Malkmus. As cult bands go, Pavement were one of the greatest, most influential and successful of the 1990's. They split on a high with the best album of their life span and the best album of that year, 1999's 'Terror Twilight'. Their most famous member, the aforementioned Malkmus, recently released his own debut, and now it's the Other One's turn.
When the press release states that we're in familiar Pavement territory, it ain't kidding. Though some tracks stand out on their own more than others, there are no big suprises here. 'Falling Away' is one of the most immediate tracks, with a wonderfully affecting chorus.
'A Treasure @ Silver Bank (This Dynasty's For Real)' is a country tinged, pleasant, hooky ditty. Of the darker, edgier tracks on offer here, 'Encyclopedic Knowledge Of' is as good an example as any, whilst 'Monkey Heart' and 'Horses Leg' disappoints by only being 43 seconds long, missing an opportunity to expand on it's rather more experimental nature.
Even if you didn't know this was anything to do with Pavement, those of you who are familiar with their work would immediately think, "aha, sounds like Pavement." In fact, really, most of the tracks here could be Pavement, so those looking for a diversion will be disappointed. Those looking for another Pavement record for their collection will be less so, but ultimately this sounds like a hurried release and more of an extension of the past than an indication of the future.
