Concrete Playground

WOWEE ZOWEE. When news hit mid-October that Pavement were reforming for an international tour, there was a kind of hush all over the Twitter.

That is, at least in the little world occupied by those of us who worshipped pop tidbits such as the Pacific Trim 7" (not the CD so much, because the vinyl featured the extra track about "the groovy scene in Australia", I Love Perth) in the 90s, and those who have come to think of the band as an iconic lo-fi precursor to the music they're digging now. Apparently enough fingers were crossed by hopeful fans, because out they're trotting from their range life for an Australian tour in March for the first time here since 1998.

If this blurb sounds like it is dripping with nostalgia and syrupy teen fandom, that's because, well, it is. For the sake of stopping myself from starting in on a "Pavement ist rad" inspired justify-their-existence bio piece, I'll just point out that Melbourne's upcoming Golden Plains festival felt it enough to announce only one band in the initial press release. You guessed it.

In the last decade, many bands have reformed (for cash, presumably) and toured to occasional success, but most have simply sullied memories of former glory. Believe me, I've walked out of quite a few of the latter. Given that most members have continued on with other musical projects post-breakup — frontman Stephen Malkmus solo and with his band the Jicks, Scott Kannberg/Spiral Stairs solo and as Preston School of Industry, Mark Ibold as member of both Free Kitten and Sonic Youth, and various members contributing to Silver Jews line-ups — this looks set to be enchanting (and possibly slanting).

Heaven isn't a truck, it's a Pavement show. They play the Enmore Theatre on 3rd March, 2010.