dissabte, 22 de febrer del 2014

CLEARANCE. Greensleeve (7")


Ja no només el tipus de música dels primers Pavement s'atreveixen a treballar, la portada del seu treball també té molt de similar amb la de "Slanted and Enchanted". Ells són els Clearance i el seu disc una èspecie de doctorat. Han estat més que uns bons alumnes, els temes són molt interessants i sobretot, l'esperit dels començaments de Pavement estan perfectament recollits. Ara els manca una mica més d'iniciativa personal i dotar les seves composicions d'una personalitat pròpia, com a copistes es mereixen una matrícula d'honor.

"Nobody writes them like they used to/So it may as well be me," Belle and Sebastian reasoned on Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying. Clearance don't actually say that, but the intention is clear: breathe new life into Pavement.

It makes sense: Pavement are gone and, Mirror Traffic aside, Malkmus's solo work has been inconsistent, and Preston School of Industry's brilliance wasn't repeated by Spiral Stairs' one album.

But these 5 songs don't stray into pastiche. Firstly, they're too good; secondly, Pavement didn't exist in a vacuum. So there's the bold hooks of Big Dipper and the crisp pop of Let's Active in here and given a different slant.

Quite simply, the reason I bought this 7" and not Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks' Wig Out At Jagbags album is Greensleeve sounds better and fresher and hungrier.

Clearance probably aren't helping themselves by using artwork so close to Slanted and Enchanted for this single, but get past that and this record has magic all its own.(did not chart)