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Originally Posted by Kevorkian Logic
See I think that Pavement's lo-fi sound in combination with their poor production sound is what really made them stand out in the beginning as a new unique sound. That low quality sound is the characteristic that a lot of the bands were influenced by them emulated. So losing that sound is like losing part of their idiosyncrasy. I agree that the lyrics are still very similar, I just think between the two sounds Slanted and Enchanted had the more unique and influential sound.
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I think the lack of production values is not important in and of itself, but rather, is important because of what it made Pavement become. Because of their lack of professionalism and technical skill, Pavement couldn't have sounded like other bands if they'd wanted to, so they were forced to be creative in other ways. Because of that, we end up with the most skewed interpretation of pop-rock we'd had to that point which kind of birthed the modern indie sound. Consider the fact that "Range Life" is supposed to be alt-country and "Newark Wilder" is supposed to be cabaret. But everything comes out as a charmingly warped version of what it's supposed to be. There's a wonderful sense of discovery in their sound, because it's as though they have no idea how to play their instruments, but then they stumble upon something that's half of what they were striving for, the other half being a kind of jovial noise that makes the music uplifting and free.