MMT50 - 221

Meeting Malkmus - a Pavement podcast

This week on the program, jD is joined by Russ Romandini to unveil song 21 on the Pavement Top 50 Countdown.

Transcript:

Track 1:

[0:00] Previously on the Pavement Top 50.

Track 2:

[0:02] So here we go with Texas Never Whispers. Aiden from Vermont, what are your initial thoughts about this song? Texas Never Whispers is a really cool song. Full disclosure, before you sent me that this would be the song that we were going to be talking about, it honestly wasn't one of the tracks off of Watery the Mystic that really jumped out at me. But after um after you sent it and i knew that we were gonna have to chat about it um i listened to it a little bit deeper and i i definitely found like a new appreciation for it hey.

Track 1:

[0:38] This is westy from the rock and roll band pavement and you're listening to the countdown.

Track 3:

[0:46] Hey it's jd here back for another episode of our top 50 countdown for seminal indie rock band and Pavement. Week over week, we're going to count down the 50 essential Pavement tracks that you selected with your very own top 20 ballots. I then tabulated the results using an abacus and an air fryer. Seriously, is there anything this machine doesn't do? How will your favorite song fare in the rankings? You'll need to tune in to find out. So there's that. This week, I'm joined by Pavement superfan, Boston Russ. Boston Russ, how the fuck are you? I'm fan-tastic. and ready to rock. This is great news because it would be a hell of a podcast if you were not ready to rock. That's right. That's right. Thanks so much for having me on. Oh, it's my pleasure. Thanks for doing this. You guys do all the heavy lifting on these, so this is fantastic for me. Let's get right to it. Let's talk about your pavement origin story. Sorry. I think my Pavement Origins story goes back to 1994.

Track 3:

[1:50] I'm a little late. I'm kind of a late comer in some respects. So back in 94, a good friend of mine, so I got to give him some props. His name was Sean McGovern. We called him Slappy and a few other things. He was in a band in the Boston area called Beeswax. There's some other bands in our area called Beeswax also, but he was in with a few guys. And they did AK-47 and a couple other songs. Sadly, he passed away a couple years ago. He got sick. Oh, shit.

Track 3:

[2:23] But back in 94, we were good friends, and we hung out a ton, and he just one day gave me this bag of CDs. He left it in my car. He's like, listen to these. And so Crooked Rain was there, and so I put it on, and Silent Kid comes on, and I'm just like.

Track 3:

[2:41] Who are these guys? And, you know, I played the album some. And it was just, like, I go back and I look at that time. And, like, the album release times were just, like, really, like, fast-moving parts of my life. It was, like, the end of college almost where Crooked Rain came out. It was, like, the end of my junior year. And I was doing a radio show. And I don't know. I, like, never quite linked up to, like, really featuring them prominently. And then wowie zowie comes out like two weeks before i graduated college and you know and get into like the summer in 95 and it's just like it like just blurred and so it's like i heard it like a little bit but didn't like totally like dive in not until bright in the corners came out in 97 and that like i just could not stop playing that album like just word great record and word out and And I wanted to see them in concert. I had been to a bunch of different shows for bands, like Foo Fighters. I got to see Foo Fighters when they were together for two weeks in 1995. Holy shit. They were together. Nobody knew who they were. This is my same friend. So Sean says to me, we got to go see this band play.

Track 3:

[3:55] Eddie Vedder's wife is doing a percussion band.

Track 3:

[3:59] And Eddie Vedder is going to play with Mike Watt. And Dave Grohl is going to show up. and do, he's going to play with his new band. And I was like, he's like, you got to go. And it was like this rainy Sunday afternoon. We go to this club called Avalon. So if anybody knows Boston, knows the 90s, we wore Avalon out. I mean, it was like one of the best places to go for rock bands. And Foo Fighters was the middle band. Grohl comes out on lead. And you're like, because you're like, oh, Dave Grohl, new band, going to be a drummer, right? He comes out on lead and does like, and he's holding his guitar tower in hand and it was like that one moment where it's like best ever or total train wreck and he did this as a call comes in with the first lines you know just his voice butter and from there it was it was crazy so like you know i followed like a lot of these bands and went to a lot of these shows and just didn't quite i kept missing pavement and then they broke up and i got old you and me both brother you know and it's like oh and they got together in 2010 and but my My son was like a year old, and I had really moved far from Boston at that point and totally missed the tour. And I was like, ugh, you know, and just kind of feeling like stuck. And so I would listen to, you know, Pavement a lot during the 2010s. They were a big part of Spotify, and I would play them. And I don't know, a couple of years ago...

Track 3:

[5:26] I was just saying to myself, it would be really great if these guys would really do a tour. Yes. And then it happened. And they came to Boston, and I got sick. No fucking way. I got sick at the end of September. I totally missed the announcement that they were coming, and then got sick, and I couldn't get tickets, and I skipped it. And I was just like, I'm totally beside myself. And I was like, all right. This is okay, because we're going to make up for it. And so, we come to the end of the calendar year in 22, and then one of the best things happened to me. My wife, her best friend calls her up and says, guess what I have? And my wife says, what? And her best friend says, I have an extra free ticket to see Taylor Swift. And my wife is a huge Swifty. All right. Okay? Huge. And, you know, but her best friend lives in Tennessee. And we're in Boston. And her best friend says, the ticket's for Tampa Bay.

Track 3:

[6:41] Oh, my God. So, because that's where her best friend mom lives, right? Right. So, she's just like, well, I'm going to go from Tennessee to Tampa and go to the show. Do you want to come with me? And and of course you know well i gotta tell my wife i'm like you got it's a ticket of the year i'm like this this is like you got a free ticket to this like yeah you have to go right you have to go so of course like she could i you know she got the ticket we just got her i got her a flight and you know she goes down there and has a ball right they drive they do like a 1300 mile road trip from tennessee to tampa and back they go to the smoky mountains they have like the best time ever right so right after that the ticket um you know i got out of the plane ticket, the pavement in iceland announcement comes oh yes and i'm like pavement iceland and i turned 50 and i'm like she's like, You have to do that.

Track 3:

[7:40] That is a great wife. Yeah. She is fantastic. And I'm like, I do have to do this, don't I? She's like, I think you do. And I'm like, it's three shows. I'm like, they'll play all the songs. They have to play all the songs just to vote because it's three shows in a row. Yeah. So I went ahead and I ended up booking the trip. And so this was like you know late late i think the release was like late january so like early february it was like a couple of weeks after they released the thing i i got tickets but i still got like fifth row and i got second row for like the last show i got really good tickets they were they were a little slow to sell out of the gate but and thankful for me because you know i'm like so i just i got a flight the flights were very reasonable and so got a flight and just said we're doing this thing. So as the year ticks by, I'm getting ready, getting ready, getting ready. And then I think it was sometime in late June, my birthday passed and all this, getting ready for the trip. And then I get the big announcement that says, in Iceland, they're going to do a walking tour with the band. I did not know this. yeah they put out a walking tour with the band so uh steve and bob participated in the walking tour.

Track 3:

[9:02] Um so um oh and and spiral also of course um so it was the three of them and then you would buy a record and and buy the tour uh the walk tour so 90 minutes around reykjavik um and there was a host and then they would go ahead and talk about, you know, they would just talk about the musical history of Iceland, and then you could walk around and get to meet the pavement guys. That's fantastic. There were 50 tickets, went on sale at noon. My hand was like on that button, and I was number 21. That's amazing. I could not believe I got a ticket. It and i i you know again i was like is i'm like is this hyping up to be the best trip ever i'm like sounds like i'm like what's happening here and so now we're leading up to the trip the trips at the end of july they did the shows at the end of july so sometime in july i'm on reddit i'm on the pavement channel and um sky posts up and he says who's going to iceland let's form a group, so I'm like great I'm like how about me I'm like I'm going he says hi I'm Mike from DC and I'm like I'm Russell from Boston.

Track 3:

[10:26] So, I jump in. Another guy, Steve from Milwaukee, jumps in and says to me, so, what do you think the weather's going to be like? I'm like, maybe like a mild Boston winter. Unfortunately, to me and Steve, that meant two different things. Sorry, Steve. Because I ended up considering that to be a little chilly. But I went a little cold. So, it was pretty funny. And so, slowly, this little group of people forms on Reddit and then goes over to WhatsApp. So the day comes, finally go ahead and fly out. Do the flight, no problem, get there. And then when you fly into Keflavik Airport, it's about 45 minutes from Reykjavik, you go and take a bus. Okay. And so, guy sits across from me, he's also from Massachusetts. His name's Curtis, and I strike up a conversation with him. And halfway through the conversation, He's like, by the way, are you here for pavement? And I'm like, yes. He's like, what gives me away? He's like, you know, you're a certain age, traveling by yourself. He's like, me too. I figured you were here for the shows.

Track 3:

[11:35] And I'm like, I'm on the bus and I'm not even there yet. And we're already way off and running. So we get to the Thursday show, and the moment of truth comes, and I'm walking down to Harpa Concert Hall. It's a huge glass structure. It's beautiful. If you ever see the pictures online, it was amazing. Beautiful place to play. And so I'm walking, and I'm within sight distance of the concert hall. I've already spent the day there. Reykjavik's beautiful. People are nice. Everybody's very relaxed.

Track 3:

[12:16] And guess who walks right by me is Mark Eibold. Really? Yep. Just walking to the venue. I'm walking to the venue. He's walking away from it. He's probably going out for maybe a quick bite to eat or something. something, you know, we got a little, we had, you know, time before they went on. He walks right by me and I'm like, Mark. And he turned around and I told him hello. And I said, you know, I was here for the shows and everything. He took a quick picture with me and, you know, and that was that. But I got to meet him and I was like, all right, I got to meet Mark. He is the elusive one. He is, he is elusive. And so, but I got to meet him and got a photo and, I mean, super nice. You know, it was like 90 seconds tops, you know, because I just didn't want to take up his time. I mean, you know, he's getting ready for the show and everything. So I was happy for that. And I went up to the concert hall and everybody just started to meet. And it was funny because I think it was Mike in the group said, Yeah.

Track 3:

[13:23] Okay, so here's the moment of truth. How are we all going to know, you know, who each other are since we don't know each other? Good call. So I said, all right, I'm going to go stand by one of the tables. I'm wearing bright blue pumas. You can't miss me. Because I'm also wearing this, like, bright vest. I tend to wear bright clothing sometimes. And so, like, I got this vest and I got this, like, hat and pom-pom and this whole getup. Can't miss me. I mean, I'm like screaming and everybody's dressed in like black and Reykjavik. So I'm like, I really stick out.

Track 3:

[13:57] I'm like, can't miss me. And so I think like the first guy that comes over is Steve and Steve's like, Russ. And I'm like, hi. And so that just kind of like broke the ice for everybody and people started to gravitate over. And, you know, like we're having a couple of beers. We're talking at the shows, you know, and just met some like really great people, you know, the merch tables there. And we're talking, you know, other people got tickets for the walk on Friday and it was amazing. And so one of the guys, Eric from New Jersey, Eric says to me, I said, you know, I got Crooked Rain with the tour. I said, but I really wanted Wowie Zowie. He's like, why don't you just buy it at the merch table, bring it with you tomorrow. They'll just sign it. I'm like, genius. Yeah. So I did that, and that ended up working out very well, because they signed both albums. So solid piece of advice from Eric. And so we did the show, and it was fantastic. They started off with Grounded, which is one of my favorites. Damn. And it was really great, because when they just break into Grounded, it's like...

Track 3:

[15:15] I made it, you know, and, you know, the, the, the months leading up to that were a little difficult. My mom was pretty sick. She's, you know, had, she had some tough moments last year and, uh, it was just like really emotional. I was like, holy crap. I like, I really did it. I mean, this was like 30 years in the making. Yeah. And I just, it was, you know, and it's like when you see that like pavement in Iceland thing and it's like, you look at that and it's like a lot of times you just look at those types of things and then it's like, oh, it should do And you don't end up doing it, you know, for all the reasons to not go and for all the reasons to go. And it's like, I'm here, here.

Track 3:

[15:59] And it was just amazing. I bet. It was just really great. They did Summer Babe. And, you know, by then, we're like, we're all friends. And, like, we're all yelling all the lyrics to the songs. And, you know, everybody's just, like, carrying on, having a good time. And, you know, go out to the bars after we're out late, having drinks. And everybody's, you know, really just getting to meet each other and have fun and, you know, learn where everybody's from. I mean, people came from Los Angeles, Jersey, D.C. There were people from Europe, Berlin, and England, and all these places. All these people just converged, and they all came by themselves. Really? Yep. Most people weren't by themselves. They all came by themselves. Wow. And so there was this group of people that had all come by themselves. And now it was like we started to become like this little unit. So now Friday... Friday was like really one of the highlights of the trip because we had the pavement walk and it was really, it was just great.

Track 3:

[17:19] I'll send you a copy of this picture, but like, so I bring Wowie Zowie and I mentioned how I like to dress up in bright colors and my whole get up for the day basically matched the album cover. And i didn't plan it that way but i had like you could see like my hooded sweatshirt and i wore this like green hooded sweatshirt and this you know in a shirt and my vest and hat and everything were all like blue and green and so and i had green puma sneakers like the old you know uh the old sneakers all like i'm like blue and green head to toe right and so i show up the next morning and everybody's looking at me and i'm like hey wowie zowie everybody just couldn't believe it and so you know steve west and spiral come up to me and they're like how you doing and i'm like i'm like i'm so glad to be here and they took a picture with me like right away they were like the nicest and um it was great i got to meet uh bob nastanovich and and his wife carly um who who I get to be really good friends with. She was absolutely amazing. So there's more interacting to come. So we go on the pavement walk.

Track 3:

[18:40] And it's hosted by a guy from Iceland. And so one of my favorite jokes on the whole trip gets set up, right? So we're walking through Iceland, and he's like, oh, this is where Bjork lived, and this is where this was, and this is what happened here and all of these spots. And then we get to this condominium.

Track 3:

[19:04] And, you know, he's standing in front of it and gets everybody up there and says, now this, this is, used to be the rock and roll club. He's like, it looks very clean now, but back in the late 80s and early 90s, this is where we would come and we would write songs, we would play songs. This was the club. This was it right here. This is the spot. He's like, this was everything right in this spot. He's like, and we used to. And then he said the thing that just made my eyes go like big bug wide open. And he said to me, we used to get blackout drunk. And I'm like and then there was like this kind of pause which I love because it just kind of sets me up and I have this sense of humor and I just kind of raised my hand and I said.

Track 3:

[20:11] Did you say that you got blackout drunk here? And he's like yeah and I said and, But this is your old club, right? And he said, yeah. And so I said, so now that it's closed on weekends and shut for good, would you consider this your own personal Hall of Fame? And Steve West is kind of looking at me and then all of a sudden just looks straight down to the ground like really hard. And you hear like three people chuckling in the background who get the joke and i'm sure the people got it but like you know maybe it wasn't their their sense of humor um and i just felt like i'm like he and he didn't get the joke which just to me made it like that much better it made it even better and i was just like you know it was great and so my my friend steve comes up. He's from the Midwest and has this very straight sense of humor. And he's like.

Track 3:

[21:24] Your joke earlier, that was good. Which I loved. He's just like the perfect straight man. It was so good. It was so good. And so we go on the rest of the walk and I got to meet Bob a little bit more. I got to meet Carly. But then I got probably about five minutes to walk with Spiral. And I got to tell Spiral like how much I loved Date with Ikea which is just like probably, it's definitely in my top five I think I submit it as like number three on my list because I just love that song they're just like songs that just really resonate with me it always makes me smile I love playing the John Peel version because it's just it's quicker and it just really hits every time and it's just funny because like.

Track 3:

[22:15] I became part of like team Spiral, right? Because like when I would go to the shows, I would stand like on Spiral's side. Like a lot of people buy tickets and stand to the left where Malk is. Yeah. But I like to stand to the right because I can see Spiral, I can see Bob, and I can see Mark and Steve very easily. And I can still see Malk and, you know, and Eyebold and everybody else. But like, you know, Mark's, you know, Moloch stands so far over, you know, but a lot of people gravitate over there. So it's good. And, you know, so, I mean, it was just, just amazing. And did you get to hear them play Date with Ikea? They did. They played it Friday night. They played it. I said, he's like, yeah, he's like, but we'll play it. He's like, we'll play it. And you get to hear it. And, and then, so we went and we went back and they did autographs. We got to meet them. They were just fantastic. They were all just so nice. I mean, everybody was generous with their time. I mean. That was my experience as well. Like, just so gracious and so accommodating. Yeah.

Track 3:

[23:31] Um, and so it was like, okay, where do we go from here? We did the Saturday show. I did like all, you know, I did some tours. I did Blue Lagoon, which is now like closed, you know, and those are heartbreaking every time we see like the volcano eruption stuff. And, you know, I feel for the people in that area. Cause like, oh, the people were so nice. I mean, just walking around Reykjavik, it was like, so, it was just so great. Cause everybody was like so relaxed. I mean, I was walking down the street one day and I had some napkins kind of coming out of my pocket and somebody comes up to me and he's like, your money. And I'm like, oh, thanks. It's just napkins, but thank you. You know, like, you know, and like, you know, where I live, it's like, everybody would be like, boop, I'll take that, thanks, and keep walking, you know, or let it fly away and, you know, all that. But, you know, we just had this crew and we would get, you know, we got together for drinks on the last Sunday and, you know, and people said their goodbyes and stuff. And it was just, it was great. But everybody's like, so who's going to Brooklyn? Because the tour wrapped up in Brooklyn in September. So in like six, seven weeks later, a lot of us went to Brooklyn.

Track 3:

[24:52] Jesus Christ. So because they had put the announcement out that the tickets were going to come out. And I told my wife, I'm like, I got to do one more. I just feel like I'm really called to just, I got to go to the last show. Got to go to the last. So I bought two tickets and I called, I have a twin sister. and I called my twin sister Andrea and I said.

Track 3:

[25:17] Because she used to go to all the shows with me. And she took me to Foo Fighters for our birthday. Like one of her birthday presents to me, we went to see Foo Fighters in Laconia, New Hampshire. Turned back the clock and it was a great time. So I said, well, you did Foo Fighters. I said, come to Brooklyn with me because she loves going to New York. I said, come to Brooklyn and let's go to Pavement. She's like, all right, let's do it. So I bought the tickets. And then we were coming up to the shows, and the only song I didn't hear in Iceland that I absolutely had to hear was Elevate Me Later and couldn't stop talking about it. Um so we get to um we get to brooklyn uh the.

Track 3:

[26:06] Week of the it was monday september 11th was the first show and everybody did the first show and i had friends there like and now everybody's like totally into it people know each other and and my friend eric the guy from new jersey was unbelievable and basically was just like posting in the chat like okay they're doing this song now Now they're doing this song. Now they're doing this song. And like some people would like post videos into the chat. Somebody tried to do a little live. I mean, like, I mean, the time that people were investing in sharing the information with everybody else was just wild. So I'm just like, I was like, I'm getting a ticket for Wednesday because it wasn't sold out yet. And I was like, I'm buying a ticket for Wednesday. And I worked it out with my sister where we were going to take the train together. And then she's like, I'll just buy a bus ticket. You meet me there and I'm like, I'm going, I'm going out on the train a day early and I'm going to the Wednesday show too. So I get to the Wednesday show and, um, cause now it's like, I'm in it now. Now it's like a minute. So I got tickets for the last two shows. I had to. And, um, I'm like, it was like really just called to do it because I got there, you know, I met up with Steve and Mike and, and everybody and, and, and it was wonderful seeing everybody, um, and met new people too, like, uh, Wes from Chicago, who was really great. And he ended up cutting some videos and some other folks.

Track 3:

[27:36] But they ended up doing Elevate Me Later on the Wednesday show. It was the only time in the whole tour, the whole year and a half tour, that they played Elevate Me Later. Holy shit. And they did. You were there for it. I was there for it. I couldn't believe it. Because they wrote it out as LS2 on the play sheet. Yeah, yeah. And I was like, are they going to play it? Because and my friend Wes is like well there's like two versions of it he's like so he's like I think so but maybe and then like they kicked into it and I'm like that's my entrance song, and it was like I was like in a hyper trance for like the first 20 seconds of it because like I couldn't believe they were finally playing it and it came out great it was amazing Rebecca Clay Cole, who was there doing the organ work on the tour, her voice on the backing vocal was just awesome with everybody else. It's a great version. It really needs to be on Spotify.

Track 3:

[28:38] Well, I hope we get some live records at some point from this tour. They were taking video and all kinds of stuff. So I am hoping that they do some live work with it. And if we get that out, produce, it would be super great. Um, so I mean, it was really great. Uh, I mean, um, we, you know, at, at the end of the Wednesday show, uh, we went to the bar across the street and we were having beers. We kind of closed that place down and then a spiral runs out and, um, you know, and he's just like booking it for his Uber. Right. Cause I mean, you know, there's still like, you know, probably 20, 20 of us there hanging out and he's like, yeah, Hey, I'll see you guys. And I'm like, hey, Spiral, it's me from Iceland. And he's like, wait, I remember you. And I'm like, knock back. And I'm like, oh, my friends heard that. And it was just like frivolity because it was just, it was too crazy. And I gave him a high five. He gave me a quick hug and he jetted off into his Uber. And I'm just like, my whole night was made. I guess so. You know, and then like it couldn't get any better except Steve Malkmus walked out and was hanging out on the corner waiting for his Uber. And he's just standing there and he's talking to like you know somebody else he was with and we're all standing there like diagonally across the street from Malk and he's just standing there and another friend of mine says.

Track 3:

[30:07] Russell, what do we do? And I'm like, we go up to him. And so like, I just started walking across the street and then like, I just like went right after, you know, and, and patiently waited for him to finish this conversation. And I'm like, hello. And I'm wearing my Reykjavik t-shirt, except it says Reykjavik in Japanese. And one of our other friends is Japanese in the group. And when she saw me and she walked into the bar, she was the only person who laughed at me because she's like, Like, your t-shirt says Reykjavik.

Track 3:

[30:35] I mean, the moments were just, like, amazing. They were all, like, it felt like every moment was like that. And then, so, like, Stephen was the only person I hadn't met. And, you know, again, super gracious, took some photos, you know, and, you know, I didn't take too much of his time because, you know, the rest of my friends all got time to meet him before his ride showed up. And that was that. You know, we did the Thursday show also. And, you know, we got to say goodbye to the band and to everybody else. And it was something else.

Track 3:

[31:09] And, you know, one last story that my friend Mike from D.C. is very fond of. So when we got back from Iceland, I had the picture with me dressed up in the Wowie Zowie outfit. And I have a picture. When we did the record signing, it was at 12 Tonar. Which is one of the record shops in Reykjavik. So in the back, they have this wall with graffiti, and it's all color. So I'm in my color outfit, and it's all color. And it's this really cool photo that came out, and you could see everything, the sneakers, the whole nine yards, right? And so I posted it on Twitter, and I said, you know, I posted it to Bob and Carly and Spiral, and said, thank you so much for everything. And Spiral wrote back and called me a legend. And that just like broke my friend Mike. He's like, he's like, hold up, hold up, hold up. He's like, do I have that right? He's like, did you call Spiral a legend or did he call you a legend? I'm like.

Track 3:

[32:18] He called me a legend. That's amazing. And Mike is like, why? Why did he call you a legend? He's like, what don't I know about you, Russell? And I'm like. I wear bright colors. Yeah. I mean, you know, I just, I'm like, I don't know, Mike. You know, I'm thankful he did that, you know. Oh, God, that's amazing. It was just, it's wild. It's out on the interwebs, you know, and it makes me smile. There are just so many pieces that made me smile. At me on Twitter. At me on Twitter with the photo. Oh, yeah, absolutely. I would love to see it. Yeah, I'm happy to share it. So a quick shout out to the whole crew here. So Steve, Mike, Eric, Liz from England, Sasha, Chiaki, Curtis, Chris from Berlin, Manny and Liza, Wes Stevens, Tony, Bacon, and a very large shout out to the man from Reykjavik himself.

Track 3:

[33:21] Elvar, Elvarsson, who was, you know, we all became friends with Elvar when we were in Reykjavik, and he was the only person in our group from Iceland. And I love his name because, Because in Boston, we always swear at people. And Elvar's name is Elvar, Elvar's son. So he's son of an Elvar. I mean, in our best Boston. And he's such a bright personality, a wonderful guy. He does a podcast called Peeling the Onion. So a shout out to him. And if anybody's out there, it's on Spotify. And he covers a lot of punk rock origins and stuff. So huge shout out to Elvar. And to all the people who were there for Iceland and Brooklyn, my sister, of course, you know, and my family for putting up with the time while I'm away and the incessant playing of the pavement. And, you know, but my son has now kind of become kind of a fan a little bit. Done good work. Yeah, we're driving around. You know, he has his pavement favorites too, which makes me smile. So it's, you know, some good dad work there. So I'm trying. I'm trying.

Track 3:

[34:39] Well, what do you say we flip the record here and play song 21 and then come back and have a little talk about that? Sounds good. I'm ready for a B-side. All right, let's do it. We'll be back after this.

Track 1:

[34:53] Hey, this is Bob Mustanovich from Pavement. Thanks for listening. And now on with a countdown. 21.

Track 3:

[38:08] Today's song is the second song from Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain to appear on the countdown thus far. Today, we're talking all about number 21, Cut Your Hair. Russell, talk to me about your relationship with this song. I love this song, you know, for a few reasons. One, I think because, you know, it's ubiquitous. And when I talk about Pavement to the rest of the free world people are like, I don't remember that band, and if I say cut your hair people are like, yeah I remember that and I think it's great that there's a song that helps people kind of make that connection.

Track 3:

[38:57] Even though their relationship to the band isn't as deep as ours right um i also love it because like 90s russ had the best hair now for those you know for all my friends and family that know me my my hair is gone now and for all my recent friends all they know is you know russ has no hair but 90s russ and my 90s friends or people People that grew up with me know that like in college, they used to call me Mr. Perfect Hair or the guy with the hair. And my hair kind of came off to the left and it would – on the side, it came all the way around and it didn't move.

Track 3:

[39:43] It did not move. And it would just come down in the front and it was always perfect no matter like when you saw me. I could roll to the cafeteria at 8 a.m., and it had to be just right. It was always on. And people used to try to do all kinds of stuff to mess it up, and it was his own airtight defense system. It was awesome. It was part of me. You wouldn't see me without it. I didn't have the confidence back then to not have it. Be just so um it was just you know it was part of kind of life in my 20s so like you know the hair was it was just that was it wherever i was i was always able to make sure like i could find an outlet and uh blow dry my hair and uh and make it just so so it was um it was hilarious uh so So, you know, I love the song, and the song is just...

Track 3:

[40:53] You know, it's everything about, you know, kind of just like that, being perfect. It's like, you have to be so packaged and so, you know, you have to have that image just so. You know, like back in the day when we had the Andre Agassi commercials, image is everything. And that's what Cut Your Hair says to me. It's like, image is everything. Thing like if you're gonna go far as a band like you know like you have to have like this whatever it is packaged image that record company wants you to follow in order for your career to advance and and you can't really be yourself you know um that's how i i see the song is it's almost like It's a song of conformity. If you don't fit the image, you won't move forward. And it's interesting that Cut Your Hair is on Crooked Rain, which really propelled their career.

Track 3:

[41:59] Absolutely. And kind of got them to the point where the next record really could have put them up and over. And they come out with Wowie Zowie, which is really, people say it's equivalent to Weezer Pinkerton. Right. Yeah, I can see that. Which I loved, and it really kind of got a very cool reception. You know but like if you look at the like how everybody rated it it was like this album's amazing and i'm like well yeah that album is amazing the same thing with like wow he's out where you like it you know if as people reviewed it a lot of people didn't like it and some people like really loved it but when you come back and listen to wow he's out where you like it, You know, it was growing your hair. They made the record they wanted to make, even though it didn't quite conform to what the record companies necessarily wanted.

Track 3:

[43:03] You know, and they made that art what they wanted it to be. And so that's kind of like what Cut Your Hair kind of means to me, you know? I love it. Tension and Fame, South Korea.

Track 3:

[43:23] I mean, you know, it's a fun song. It's, you know, it's really light and peppy. You know, it's a song when you go to the show, you know, you're going to hear it, you know, more often than not, you know. And if they, when they played four shows, I think they left it out once, you know, maybe twice. But when we got to Brooklyn, they were really playing like real deep cuts. I mean, we got to hear like, they emptied the cupboards in Brooklyn and that was great. We got a lot of, hearing Half a Canyon and Pueblo and those kinds of songs were really great. But, you know, cut your hair, you know you're going to hear it. But, you know, like, it's fun. And sometimes it can be that song where it's just like, oh, you know, I don't know if I want to hear it because it is so popular, you know, and it is, you know, uniquely Pavement. And it's, you know, like, I want to hear other songs. But it was really interesting because when you gave me the opportunity to come on and talk about it, and I'm like, it really is a great song. It is a great song. You know? And...

Track 3:

[44:42] You know, I saw out on Reddit, I think it was last week, there's now a beer named after it called The Second Drummer Drowned. Dude, interesting story. The guy who posted that, I just said nonchalant, I said, oh man, it's too bad you couldn't ship one here. And then he DM'd me, got my address, and he is shipping one to me. That is outstanding. It is so fucking cool, and I believe his name is, oh shit, I think it's Mark. I will amend this at some point and make sure that he gets the shout out he deserves. But this leads me to an interesting question for you talking about, you know, this song and the fact that some people can dismiss it because it was their popular hit. It had, you know, it was on MTV rotation, like the music video.

Track 3:

[45:44] So is this song at 21, is it properly rated? Is it overrated? Is it underrated? What do you think? 21, we're into the great tracks now. Not to say that the whole 50 isn't great, but we're starting to get down to the nitty gritty. Be i have to i'm gonna say i was surprised when you told me that i when i was at 21, i did not expect to see cut your hair here me neither but i understand it in a way and so i will you know i'll share a little bit of my own um you know submission i ranked elevate Elevate Me Later, number one, for a very specific reason. I wanted the points for it because I wanted it to be somewhere in the top 50 because I love it. And so when we say, okay, it's going to be the top 50 countdown, I think about the math behind it and goes into it. So I think that Cut Your Hair kind of gets knocked down a little bit because...

Track 3:

[47:02] Everyone just assumes it's going to be there. Oh, that's a good call. Okay. So it's kind of like that old Simpsons episode where Bart Simpson, and this is like season one where Bart Simpson runs for class president against Martin Prince. And everybody thinks Bart's going to win and nobody votes for him. And only Martin Prince wins two to nothing because him and his only friend voted for Martin Prince. So it was two nothing Martin Prince. That was it. And Martin won. And everybody's like, nobody voted for Bart. So I feel like cut your hair as Bart. I mean, nobody really voted for it because everybody would just count on it being in everybody's highly ranked list. And here it is at 21.

Track 3:

[47:40] You're probably bang on the money, man. You know, that's an interesting take. I hadn't really considered that, but I think that's a very solid take. I mean, because I ranked some other songs a little bit higher because I wanted to make sure they made the cut. Yeah. And I put Elevate Me Later number one because I asked for it so much amongst my friends. It's tied to me now. And every time I hear it, I put it on right before we came on just to hype me up because it always makes me smile. but Grounded and then Date With Ikea were my top three. And Date With Ikea, for me, that was properly rated because I love that song. And having that time with Spiral, those few minutes with him in Reykjavik is something I will never forget. Of course. It's tied to it between that and the Twitter thing and the fact that he remembered me in the shows and Brooklyn and all that, I'm definitely like Team Spiral and everybody ribs me for that, good-naturedly, because it's just funny. And, you know, but I think that's- He's a gem, man. He's a gem. He's come on five times. Really? Yeah. He's been on five times. Amazing. Amazing. Yeah. I get it. I mean, they've all been great, you know. And a special shout out, too, to Carly, who's Bob's wife.

Track 3:

[49:10] We chat occasionally on Twitter and say, hi, how are you? And even during the shows, she would say hi to me and she'd say, hey, I love your energy. And like she was taping, she was videotaping the shows on her phone. And she's like, you know, at like certain intervals, she would just like hand me her phone. She's like, you tape this. And so like, I'm like watching the concert and I'm like holding up her phone, making sure I get good footage for her. It was hilarious. I mean, like the stuff that just happened was just like, I'm like, how am I even doing this? Like, why? Like, you know, why have I been chosen to kind of be in the middle of all of this? I had a very similar vibe when I did my UK trip. I had a very similar vibe. It was just like, who am I? What fucking planet is this right now? Right, right, right. This is my favorite band, and I'm following them around, and I'm getting backstage, and they know me. Like, this is so cool. Right, right. It's like, this can't be happening. That's right. And the whole Iceland trip was like, you know, like people talk about like, oh, I had this trip and everything went wrong. The Iceland trip was everything went right. Everything that could have happened that, you know, that could have turned into a positive turned into a positive. And even the little setbacks I had, like, were so quickly resolved, usually by the kindness of strangers or some good fortune.

Track 3:

[50:38] It was just amazing how well everything went, and really both trips. I mean, it was the time. I had a wonderful time. Well, you were owed it, I think. And after missing them a few times, I'm glad you got to resolve your story that way. Is there anything other than the Icelandic Gentleman's podcast that you want to plug while you're here? Um no I I think I just want to plug my friends one more time for everybody in those groups you know Steve, Mike, Eric you know all those guys everybody is like just the nicest you know it's like just a quick story like you know Eric bought merchandise for us in Brooklyn and then shipped it home to all of us Wow. And he's like, just Venmo me.

Track 3:

[51:37] Like, that kind of generosity of his time and trust and everything else. Just top shelf. And everybody was like that. Mike was like that. Steve was like that. I've had a good fortune to see Steve a few times, and we've been able to hang out. And even though he's out in the Midwest, we've been able to connect a few times. Oh, that's brilliant. You know, just all the people just, it made it so great. And it just turned into this giant snowball of good that just kept rolling downhill and just kept getting better, bigger. More people came into the fold. Everywhere we went, more people came in. It was amazing how welcoming everybody was and all the people that we met, how great they were. Keep in mind if you ever do a reunion. Oh, 100%. I'll hit you up on Twitter. And I'm sure we'll wind up somewhere at some point. That would be awesome. You know, what I'd really love is like.

Track 3:

[52:39] One more like place where like iceland where they played three shows yeah you know brooklyn they played four shows like they're doing a few south america shows it's kind of tough but it's like one show in one location at a big festival and like it's hard to like kind of do that but if they played like three shows somewhere where we could just show up and and like kind of recreate them take over and recreate the magic and yeah and make some new stories and spend that time I'm, I would just, I would love that. And I, you know, I don't know. It seems like it's going to be a while, if ever, before they really say, we'll, we'll do that again.

Track 3:

[53:17] We'll see. We'll see. Like, I don't know. Like, I think SM is getting ready to release. And maybe by the time this comes out, he will have made an announcement of some sort. So we'll get some new Jicks material, SM and the Jicks, or maybe another, like his last two records have been just him so maybe it'll be just him but i wouldn't be shocked if we see them on the road again because it's uh it's fun for them it's relatively lucrative you know like the the touring market is is a good thing and they've got a loyal fan base you know they do i mean my here's my call this is just this is my take um another person i got to meet on the the Iceland trip, was his daughter, Sunday, who's – Sunday's about 15 years old now. And she was super nice. And I connected with her a little bit because that's my son's age. So, like, I got the whole thing, you know, I understood kind of, like, where she was coming from because that's my son's age.

Track 3:

[54:22] And, you know, my dad –, piece kind of raised up when we talk about, are they going to hit the road again? I think when Sunday goes to college, I think that at that point, we'll have a chance for them to maybe come back out. But I get the feeling like he'll do the dad thing. She'll get through high school. His wife is obviously, we know she's an accomplished artist. She has her career. He'll make time for her. There'll be that balance of family and everything else. And then when So when Sunday's off to her next adventure, everybody will probably say, one more ride.

Track 3:

[55:04] That'd be great. So I'm thinking maybe 2027, we'll gas up the truck and we'll make it count, I think, by then. Well, if they wait until 2029, that would be 40 years, right? Yeah. 40 years since the band formed. I hope they don't go that long, but you know. Yeah. I hope so too. Yeah. You know, um, and that's where like kind of the, the old guy in me says, let's get out there before we can't. Yeah. Well, on that note, on that, uh, harrowing note, um, uh, it's been a pleasure to have you on, uh, Boston Russ. Uh, this has been a delight. I'm so glad your story turned out the way it did. That's the kind of feel-good stories we do here on Meeting Malcomus. So, you know, kudos to you. That's what I got for you this week. So tune in next week for song number 20. That's right. We're in to the top 20. In the meantime, wash your goddamn hands.

Track 1:

[56:12] Thanks for listening to Meeting Malcomus, a pavement podcast. Podcast, where we count down the top 50 pavement tracks as selected by you. If you've got questions or concerns, please shoot me an email, jd at meetingmalkinist.com.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/meeting-malkmus-a-pavement-podcast/exclusive-content
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy