Last year was the year we finally lost Pavement. Not that anyone was surprised. Persistent breakup rumors had dogged the band since the release of its sixth album, Terror Twilight, in 1999. Those rumors came to a head the same year when the band played what would be its final concert. A pair of handcuffs hung from singer Stephen Malkmus' mic stand, which he explained symbolized "what it's like to be a member of this band." Ouch. \nBut the official word wouldn't come until the next year when Malkmus confirmed that, yes, Pavement was dead, and, yes, he was recording a solo album. Indie rock fans mourned for the former and cheered the latter.\nSo here it is, less than two years from Terror Twilight. It's one of the staples of rock: the "highly anticipated self-titled solo debut." Besides naming the LP after himself (changed from the working title Swedish Reggae), Malkmus' face stares out from the cover in a head shot worthy of the latest J. Crew catalog. Let the cult of personality commence.\nThat said, this record is a super-fine slice of the fractured pop we'd come to expect from latter-day Pavement. In fact, "latter-day Pavement" is definitely the operative term here. It's probably not really fair to compare this with his last band, but it's unavoidable -- some of these tracks sound like outtakes from the Terror Twilight sessions. \nIt's entirely possible that Malkmus had written some of these songs for inclusion on the next Pavement album and then just brought them along for his own record. Album opener "Black Book" uses one of Malkmus' favorite lyrical techniques: Write a phrase that sounds good but doesn't seem to mean anything and repeat it over and over (the black book you took was permanent-a-ly diversified). \nElsewhere, "Phantasies" one-ups the bizarre Sesame Street vibe of Pavement single "Carrot Rope," while the initial guitar line of "Jenny and the Ess-Dog" uncannily mirrors that of Twilight opener "Spit on a Stranger."\nThis album brings to mind the big solo debut of last year, former Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft's Alone With Everybody. The music isn't similar, but both albums consisted of things we knew they could do, essentially a reprise of the respective bands' last record, with a little of the tension sucked out. Stephen Malkmus is a good album, but the honeymoon doesn't last forever, and now that he's exorcised the Pavement demon, it's time to move on.
Track list:\n1. Black Book\n2. Phantasies\n3. Jo-Jo's Jacket\n4. Church on White\n5. The Hook\n6. Discretion Grove\n7. Troubbble\n8. Pink India\n9. Trojan Curfew\n10. Vague Space\n11. Jenny and the Ess-Dog\n12. Deado
