Pavements — the 2025 quasi-documentary which tracks the impact of the band Pavement from their beginning in Stockton, CA in 1989 through their ups and downs in the 1990s until the present — is anything but a simply-told story.
Writer/director Alex Ross Perry has stuffed his film with every idea he possibly can to make the viewer feel how a Pavement song makes a listener feel. To do so, Perry channels two movies by director Todd Haynes. First, he borrows the multi-narrative approach of Haynes’ 2007 I’m Not There, which theorizes that there isn’t one actor or storyline that can possibly capture the work and career of Bob Dylan. Pavements also adopts the form of Haynes’ 2021 documentary The Velvet Underground, which presents archival and contemporary interviews on screen at the same time, creating a space for real-time commentary. Perry blasts out Haynes’ documentary concept as Pavement’s’ multiple on-screen feeds include the following:
- Archival footage of Pavement, on- and offstage in the 90s;
- Rehearsals leading up to the band’s sold-out 2022 reunion tour;
- Range Life, which re-imagines Pavement’s career through the lens of a traditional Hollywood biopic;
- A fake documentary of the making of the aforementioned fake biopic Range Life;
- A very real stage musical called Slanted! Enchanted! A Pavement Musical, which performed three times in fall of 2022;
- Behind the scenes footage documenting the process of putting Slanted! Enchanted! together;
- A pop-up museum exhibition called Pavements 1933-2022: A Pavement Museum, which presented various band-related objects and archival materials, such as Malkmus’s notebooks, tour posters, and concert ads; and
- Footage of the exhibition opening, which included members of the band taking in everything on display as well as performances by Soccer Mommy, Bully, Speedy Ortiz, and Snail Mail covering Pavement songs.
There’s so much to process as Perry pokes holes in the consensus Pavement narrative, while at the same time, poking even more holes in the holes that he has already poked. Despite the complex layers of irony working at once in Pavements, the result is a kaleidoscopic, kooky, bizarre, laugh-out-loud funny, and poignant film. All of these adjectives also work as a good combination of words to describe Pavement.
“I think people will like that.”
So states Pavement singer, songwriter, guitar player Stephen Malkmus at one point during the reunion tour rehearsals. Within all of the different strands of Pavements’ multiple-narrative approach, the film centers on Malkmus. Fairly or unfairly, Malkmus is the most fascinating and compelling figure in the Pavement story. Perry’s film tracks Malkmus’ own trajectory from “bougie” goofball Stockton music nerd to unlikely songwriting and guitar god to already-over-it-and-doesn’t-suffer-fools-without-a-sneer specialist to an artist chafing at the inherent restrictions placed on him by the band. But Malkmus’ simple statement during the reunion — “I think people will like that” — illustrates that he’s trying to figure out how to best bring joy to Pavement’s fans. It’s clear that Malkmus didn’t always prioritize the fans’ perspective during his time with Pavement. Perry is able to capture an older, wiser Malkmus, who still possesses a singularly hilarious and idiosyncratic perspective on everything, but also a man who has reached a place of acceptance about both the legacy of the band and his place within that legacy.
Like that stolen moment from Malkmus, the multiple narratives within Pavements overflow with priceless details and delightful flourishes. The following are highlights and other observations about the film:
- The real driver and secret hero of the entire Pavements project is editor Robert Greene, who demonstrates that, at its best, film is an editor’s medium.
- There’s a great scene featuring the actor Joe Keery working with a vocal coach to perfect the distinct sound that is Malkmus’ speaking voice. But then Pavement guitar player and sometime lead singer and songwriter Scott “Spiral Stairs” Kannberg off-handedly does the best Malkmus impression ever. While Keery convincingly conveys Malkmus’ overall air, no one will top Spiral Stairs’ take on that voice.
- Keery is absolutely right that the Whitney Museum should have some sort of signage or display recognizing that Malkmus, Pavement percussionist and instigator Bob Nastanovich, and the one-and-only David Berman all worked together as security guards at their institution during a pivotal moment in their artistic development. Let’s start an online campaign to pressure the Whitney’s Board of Directors.
- Only Malkmus can offer the type off-hand, yet pointed dig at the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa.
- Staying with 60s music icons, Malkmus tries to compare Pavements to Get Back, calling it “that Peter Jackson movie that got so much traction on social media.” Did he not watch Get Back? Somebody share their Disney+ password with Malkmus pronto!
- Nothing brings this reviewer back to the 90s better than the diversity of shirts worn by the band members in the archival footage. But then this reviewer also owns an Ebbets Fields Flannels Des Moines Demons shirt similar to the one that Nastanovich sports during the reunion.
- The different band members’ sincere response to the museum exhibition is endearing, especially the freaked out Spiral Stairs: “I’m going to cry. I thought it was going to be fake.”
- Of course, Malkmus goes through a different range of responses to the exhibition than the rest of Pavement. At first he’s a little nonplussed, telling the interviewer, “I like the Steve Keene artwork and there’s a lot of people here…” Then, he sees the Pavement concert posters and he says, “This gives me PTSD, to be honest.” Eventually, he warms up to the whole thing: “There’s a lot of joy to being sentimental. People can relate to that.” Finally, he comes around, stating that the exhibition is a way to “remember all the good stuff. It means a lot to all of us.” Good for Malkmus!
- The Portland rehearsals’ version of “Fillmore Jive” from the Pavements soundtrack finds Malkmus riffing on the original lyrics, resulting in a new coda: “When they pull out the plugs and they pass out the drugs. / When you pull out my plug, will you give me some drugs? / I love free drugs. / I love free drugs.” This universal statement elicits a number of comments from the other band members and a lot of giggling.
- There’s a quick shot of Malkmus playing basketball, which serves as a signifier for the valuable role that sports — especially fantasy sports — plays as a binding agent within the inner workings of Pavement.
- Speaking of poking holes within narratives, Malkmus declares at the photoshoot featuring him and Kerry: “You try to look like me and I’ll try to look like you.”
- Malkus comments more than once about disliking interviews, but then there is no better interviewee than Stephen Malkmus. He does seem to enjoy interviews now, probably because he does less of them. Furthermore, with maturity and a healthier mindset, Malkmus knows how to set boundaries and when to say that he doesn’t want to talk about something. This is in contrast to the many instances of withering/sarcastic/contemptuous interview comments during the archival footage.
- That feeling of watching Pavement re-learn a song during the reunion rehearsals and realizing that they might not have ever actually learned that song in the first place.
Pavements closes with the song “Spit on a Stranger” acting as the foundation for the big Slanted! Enchanted! A Pavement Musical ending. As the song progresses, the other voices from the cast join in, but sing lyrics from other Pavement songs that, through the magic of musical theater, work melodically over the “Spit on a Stranger” chord progression. But then the filmmakers go one better and weave in Malkmus vocal parts alongside the Slanted! Enchanted! cast. This plays over a magnificent montage, embracing every aspect of the film—archival footage, scenes from the reunion tour, the biopic, the exhibition, the musical— to create one big juxtaposition mashup closing number. It’s quite an accomplishment and a testament to Perry and Greene’s expert execution of the entire Pavements endeavor. It’s hard not to well up at this moment, not only because of the all-encompassing presentation of the band’s history, impact, and legacy, but it also recognizes the multitude of people who came together within Pavements to celebrate the long-lasting and continuing collective project that is Pavement.
Recliner Notes 