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For a certain subset of indie rock fans, Pavement is the only band that matters. Guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Stephen Malkmus — as well as guitarist/sometimes vocalist Scott Kannberg, bassist Mark Ibold, drummer Steve West, and percussionist/synth player Bob Nastanovich — put out some of the finest, most influential guitar music of the ’90s alternative and underground scenes. On this special episode of The Story Behind the Song podcast, host Peter Csathy welcomes Kannberg and West to chat about the Wowee Zowee gem “Kennel District” and the perfectly out-there nature of Alex Ross Perry’s rockumentary on the band, Pavements. Listen above or wherever you get your podcasts, and watch the full interview above or via YouTube.
Though the tune ultimately landed on 1995’s Wowee Zowee, the origins of “Kennel District” start one album prior, while the band was working on their seminal sophomore effort Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. (An early attempt at cutting the track can actually be heard on the Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: LA’s Desert Origins deluxe re-release.) Both versions are slacker rock anthems, though the pop melodies and easy-going vibes hide surprisingly dark themes.
“Like a lot of my songs, I was very shy to record a song. I mean, Steve had so many songs in the well — and they were so great,” Kannberg explains. “[And ‘Kennel District’ is] like a Pixies, Nirvana kind of thing where it’s just verse, chorus, verse. The lyrics were kind of about my girlfriend at the time — who then became my wife, and now is my ex-wife — and also about this woman that I met in New York around the time of Crooked Rain who was married to an Americana rock star. I won’t say his name, but she was divorcing him because he would beat the shit out of her. So, yeah, it’s a poppy song, but it’s got some dark undertones to it.”
In addition to sharing their memories of writing and recording in the ’90s, the pair shares their perspective on Perry’s Pavements, a film that embodies the mythology and ethos of the band not only in its content, but in its very construction. There’s experimental editing, time jumps, and even a fake biopic starring Joe Keery sprinkled in for good measure. It’s a wild, very Pavement ride.
“You know, it gets boring if you just do the thing where the band gets together and why they got together and then why the band broke up. That is a storyline that most documentaries have,” West says of the film. “You can read into a lot of that stuff if you watch it enough and read about the band, but being hidden is more interesting to me. It’s on another level besides that regular documentary type thing.”
Pavements is showing now, only on MUBI. Story Behind the Song listeners can get 30 days of MUBI free by signing up at mubi.com/cos. You can also check out Consequence’s full review of the film here.
Listen to Pavement’s Scott Kannberg and Steve West talk about “Kennel District,” Pavements, and more on The Story Behind the Song above or on your favorite podcast platform. You can also watch the full convo at the top of the page or on YouTube. Then, make sure to follow TSBTS and rate and review on Apple Podcasts.
This episode of Story Behind the Song is brought to you by MUBI, a curated streaming service dedicated to elevating great cinema from around the globe. With MUBI, each and every film is hand-selected, so you can explore the best of cinema, streaming anytime, anywhere. To stream PAVEMENTS and other great films, you can try MUBI free for 30 days at mubi.com/cos.
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