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(Credits: Far Out \/ YouTube Still)<\/p>\n
Fri 14 November 2025 2:30, UK <\/p>\n
It\u2019s now safe to say that Pavement was among the bands that best characterised the spirit of the 1990s, but frontman Stephen Malkmus<\/a> still isn\u2019t entirely proud of everything he published under their name.<\/p>\n At the time of its release, the group\u2019s debut album failed to turn too many heads simply because it wasn\u2019t all that accessible. Its follow-up, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, addressed that very issue and, in turn, produced the results they had hoped for. Although it wasn\u2019t exactly a blockbuster hit, the record certainly brought them a lot more attention in the commercial space, setting them up for the widespread success and acclaim they have enjoyed ever since.<\/p>\n Across its 12 cuts, the album boasts multiple tunes that have defined Pavement\u2019s brand of indie rock and also influenced several other acts to follow suit. Among them is a piece titled \u2018Silence Kid\u2019, which is among their best-known tunes since it is incredibly memorable, but also because it\u2019s the opening track. Considering it is the first taste of an album specifically designed for broader appeal, anyone would guess that the band had a great deal of confidence in it, except this wasn\u2019t the case with their primary songwriter and singer<\/a>.<\/p>\n While the album did serve the group well by fulfilling its purpose, Malkmus does have regrets about the aforementioned song. What\u2019s puzzling is that it\u2019s over a minor detail that really doesn\u2019t stand out despite his qualms with it. During an interview with NME, the veteran guitarist expressed his embarrassment over the line, \u201cEcstasy feels so warm inside \u2019til five hours later I\u2019m chewin\u2019, screwin\u2019 myself with my hand.\u201d Aside from being rather unnoticeable, he actually sang it right toward the end of the song, and so the chances of people remembering it are really quite low.<\/p>\n After stating that he wasn\u2019t particularly proud of those lyrics, he explained that he was \u201cjust speaking for the common man\u201d and \u201cembodying the state of mind and worldview of many young partiers at dawn.\u201d From those comments, it\u2019s tough to make sense of why this was all such a big deal to him, and it ultimately just seems like the line just matters a lot more to him than it does to the average Pavement fan.<\/p>\n Perhaps being that self-critical is what makes him such a great artist, prompting him to give us music that\u2019s still being hailed all these years later. The lyrics in question are actually quite inconspicuous, but then again, they really don\u2019t need to stand out either, since \u2018Silence Kid\u2019 is already enough of a distraction due to its incredible sound. Malkmus, however, has the privilege of finding fault in something a lot of his fans would consider flawless.<\/p>\n