Pavement - Wowee Zowee (1995)

3.2

In Pavement's 2002 documentary Slow Century, frontman Stephen Malkmus addresses Wowee Zowee's singles thusly: "I was smoking a lot of grass at the time, and to me they sounded like hits".  For all I know, he might be right; I personally would imagine the only way to make heads or tails out of this trainwreck of an album would involve some serious state-alteration.  Pavement had always had a sort of amateurish approach to their music, causing many to label them as "slackers", but the creativity and dedication to songcraft on 1992's Slanted and Enchanted and 1994's Crooked Rain Crooked Rain proved they had focus and drive.  Wowee Zowee, meanwhile, completely defenestrates the precedent they set for themselves, reveling in shambolic disarray to the delight of the 2 Pavement fans who prefer a song like "Mercy Snack: The Laundromat" to "Gold Soundz".

From the aimless acoustic ballad "We Dance" that seems to fade out in the middle of a verse for no apparent reason, to the confounding blast of incomprehensible synth-punk "Western Homes" that closes the album, Wowee Zowee is the kind of album that could easily have been written and recorded in a single day.  Song structures are tenuous, often cutting out in random points or losing focus entirely, which can happen several times in a single track.  There are almost no hooks or memorable melodies, and typically the only songs with so much as a discernible chorus are punctuated by harmonica, synth and guitar performances that suggest the instrumentalists would rather return to huffing rubber cement.  Worst of all, the album has eighteen tracks, despite not having enough decent material to fill an EP.  If Pavement's halfhearted attempt at "experimentation" hasn't worn thin by the time the snot-punk pisstake "Serpentine Pad" shows up, it certainly will have by the time you get to "Half a Canyon", which features Malkmus inhaling as loudly as he can over an instrumental reminiscent of Stereolab performing in a basement with a carbon monoxide leak.

This is not to say there is absolutely no hint of Pavement's potential on this album.  "Grounded" stands out as the obvious highlight due to its competent performance, quality songwriting and Malkmus' most evocative vocal on the record.  "AT&T" has a decent tune if you're able to get past the various vocal and lyrical quirks ("my heart is made of gravy") and "Father to a Sister of Thought" is a mild but effective song enhanced by a great pedal-steel part.  However, I can't say it's worth trying to wade through the ocean of filler Wowee Zowee delivers just to get to these modest high points.  A disappointment, to say the least, and proof that an album cannot sustain itself on spontaneity alone.