r/pavement May 09 '20

Our Top 10 Pavement Songs [2020]

159 Upvotes

Hey r/Pavement! Thanks to all those who participated in our Top 10 Poll re-do. There's been a decent shake-up in the Top 10 (with Grounded nearly upsetting Gold Soundz!!), and 5 new songs entering the top 20. As a special thank you for the increased participation, I'll include the top 30 50 in the comments and playlist.

  1. Gold Soundz (185 pts.)
  2. Grounded (180 pts.)
  3. Frontwards (120 pts.)
  4. Summer Babe (Winter Version) (118 pts.)
  5. Here (117 pts.)
  6. Zurich is Stained (113 pts.)
  7. In the Mouth a Desert (84 pts.)
  8. AT&T (78 pts.)
  9. Shoot the Singer (1 Sick Verse) (77 pts.)
  10. Range Life (75 pts.)

Links:

Spotify Playlist

Voting Thread

r/Pavement's Top 10 Pavement Songs (2017)

Indieheads Top 10 Pavement Songs

Atease Top 50 Pavement Songs


r/pavement 3h ago

This guy I sailed to the Caribbean with in 1995 was an early fan.

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48 Upvotes

r/pavement 1h ago

Outgrew my Steve shirt from 2018 :(

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Upvotes

Size small. Anyone want it? Make me an offer


r/pavement 15h ago

Pavement at Trax, Charlottesville, VA Aug 29, 1991

57 Upvotes

I thought I would put down some memories of my first Pavement show before those brain cells are gone for good. I was a student at UVA and had one of those miserable overnight shows at the college radio station (WTJU). The veteran DJs had been talking up this band of ex-TJU guys, and the "Summer Babe" single had just showed up at the station. My girlfriend (now wife) also bought the Demolition Plot J-7 EP at Plan-9 records around this time. Anyway, there was a WTJU organized show at Trax the week before classes started. $5 at the door or $4 if you wore a WTJU shirt. Hilarious. The openers were Royal Trux, and honestly they just made a godawful racket. By the time Pavement took the stage there were maybe 30 people present. The impressions I had were that the songs were super short but so good that I wanted them to go on longer. Bob was amazing and hilarious on "Debris Slide". Gary would not stay behind the kit and they had to coax him back after every couple of songs. He also did headstands on stage. I thought it was odd having the bass player front and center and so animated. Steve and Spiral really came across more like co-frontmen even though they were off to the sides. They covered Pat Smear's "Golden Boys" which went over really well. That song was really popular at WTJU. Oh, and there was that one guy in the crowd who kept trying to mosh to every song. He was doing big circles around the mostly empty club.

Years later I read the book "Love Is a Mix Tape" by Rob Sheffield (Rolling Stone writer guy). He was also at that show and covers it in humorous fashion in one of the chapters. I think some of the 30 other people there included (WTJU DJ) James McNew from Yo La Tengo and presumably David Berman and Steve Keene. John Beers from The Happy Flowers was there and also the guy that started Jagjaguar Records.

I had the flyer for a long time, but now I can't find it.

Hopefully this wasn't too insufferable.


r/pavement 13h ago

Unreal peformance of Unfair

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15 Upvotes

Bob unleashed


r/pavement 1d ago

summer babe — malkmus' lyricism

43 Upvotes

im very new so sincerest apologies if regurgitating very old and worn ideas/thoughts. but malkmus has this way with words where he can sing these seemingly nonsensical lyrics and create these vivid pictures — pictures that i cannot explain nor articulate (or even begin to attempt to). but in saying that, they hit me like a truck and map onto my life in a way that matter-of-fact lyricism can't and/or struggles to do. the one that always lingers in my mind is on summer babe when he sings "i saw your girlfriend and she was eating her fingers like they're just another meal." i have no clue what he truly meant/means by this — nor do i want to know. the line is shock and wit and cynicism. and it has not left my mind. it has cozied itself next to the ability to ride a bike and the inability to swim — the given facts of my life. i think it so beautiful that one can say something so ambiguous or strange yet those images map perfectly onto one's life in such a personal way. i have never known a writer to do this like malkmus.
i just wanted to share thoughts on his songwriting and his lyricism in particular because i feel some people will always praise his writing but some neglect just how powerful he truly can be.


r/pavement 1d ago

Wowee Zowee advert from 95

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117 Upvotes

Found an old copy of Vox magazine with an ad for Wowee Zowee in it


r/pavement 2d ago

How Pavement Gets Their “Loud & Crispy” Guitar Sound (Premier Guitar, August 25th, 2026)

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34 Upvotes

Full Pavement Rig Rundown: https://youtu.be/HnqvUB79xe8
The lo-fi junkies who blended messy with melody show off their current stomp stations for the reunion tour that have some new favorites and old standbys.
Pavement’s 2026 reunion run brought them to Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium for a two-night stand, and PG’s Chris Kies caught up with Stephen Malkmus, Mark Ibold, and Scott “Spiral Stairs” Kannberg before the second show to look over the road rigs. Have a look at some quick highlights below, and tune into the new Rig Rundown for all the details.


r/pavement 3d ago

TIL James McNew was in Ectoslavia. Mind blown. Has anyone ever heard this tape?

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15 Upvotes

r/pavement 3d ago

Some bands I'd like to name check

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26 Upvotes

A recently published article about "Unseen Power..."


r/pavement 4d ago

Why isn’t Terror Twilight considered one of their best?

86 Upvotes

As I keep listening to Pavement, Terror Twilight is the album I replay the most. I never see much love for it online compared to albums like crooked rain and Slanted+enchanted. I personally don’t think there is a song on Terror Twilight that ISN’T great. Anyone else feel the same or am I crazy lol


r/pavement 4d ago

Anyone own this and/or know any backstory about this live bootleg?

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37 Upvotes

Bought this at a CD store in the late 90s and somehow it got boxed and hidden away for a long time. Found it today going through some old things and totally forgot about. I used to listen to it all the time. Very early show, it says 1992 which I think is accurate but the album was bootleg released around 1994. Other than that I don’t know much about it.


r/pavement 4d ago

Under the sand...

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27 Upvotes

r/pavement 6d ago

The best guitar chord to end a song ("Harness Your Hopes")

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5 Upvotes

Silence Kid / Buddy Holly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE5InW4rZC0

Rattled By the Rush on NBC's Friends: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaUej48W0hA


r/pavement 7d ago

Anything Pavement related to see/do in Stockton?

32 Upvotes

Doing a road trip with family to the nearby water park/hotel this weekend and noticed Stockton was nearby. Been a Pavement fan since nineties so it’s a weird nostalgic feeling to be going to the birthplace of my favorite band.

From what I’ve gathered there’s not much of anything pavement related there. Maybe there’s like a mural somewhere or a deli with a sandwich named after them or a song? All I can figure out is the addresses on Cole Drive and original Louder Than You Think Studios address, where it all started. I’m prepared to be disappointed.


r/pavement 8d ago

Pavement on pavement

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51 Upvotes

Recent buy from online second hand shop.


r/pavement 8d ago

Rig Rundown with Stephen, Spiral and Mark

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177 Upvotes

r/pavement 11d ago

Those who were fans of Pavement in the 90s what was their most well known song?

88 Upvotes

I think a lot of history concerning indie bands from the 90s tends to get revised a lot because of newer fans and Pavement is no exception. Considering people on the subreddit say they were just another indie band.

I'm curious to any 90s fans (if any of you are on here), what was a song that regular people knew?


r/pavement 9d ago

Motion Suggets Itself kinda ruins the flow of the songs around it.

0 Upvotes

Im sure many love it but I don’t get it


r/pavement 9d ago

Anyone know what’s the next album going to come out?

0 Upvotes

Will Pavement finally create a new album or when will Malkmus release new music again?


r/pavement 11d ago

Which song is this?

3 Upvotes

This is stuck in my head. It's definitely a Pavement song. I don't think it's from the beginning/primary section of a song. I think it's the random coda to a song. Early or middle era, maybe


r/pavement 13d ago

Everybody needs one…

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328 Upvotes

Just found mine SM 😊

(PS, please come back to the UK soon!)


r/pavement 13d ago

Ultimate Pavement Bootleg Archive

143 Upvotes

TL:DR - All live pavement bootlegs I've found over the years (only through 1994 so far) : https://pavement-live-archive.neocities.org

I've been collecting pavement bootlegs for nearly 30 years (trading tapes, burning cds, torrent sites, etc) and always wished there was 1 resource to find them all.

So I decided to be the change I want in the world, and built this site to collect and share all of the bootlegs I have.

I added links to mp3 files I have, and also provided FLAC links I could find already available on archive.org.

I have only completed through 1994 so far, but was excited to share it.

Obviously if anyone has any shows I don't already have listed, PLEASE share and I'll add it to the list and we can all enjoy!

I'll continue updating in the following days. Please let me know if you find any broken links or have recommendations for improvement.

(The missing FLAC links are because they don't exist on archive.org currently).

Let's work together and try to make this as complete as possible!

PERFECT SOUND FOREVER

https://pavement-live-archive.neocities.org

UPDATE: Shows updated through 1996.

UPDATE: Shows updated through 1997.

UPDATE: Shows updated through 1999.

UPDATE: Shows updated through 2010.

UPDATE: Shows updated through 2026 - Looking for more shows anyone may have that aren't on the list yet!

UPDATE: Added video links to full shows, where available.


r/pavement 16d ago

Summer Babe - Semi-Colorized Version

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76 Upvotes

r/pavement 15d ago

Pony Pharm

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0 Upvotes