Pavement‰’s 1992 debut, Slanted & Enchanted, was an underdog record from the start. Recorded at the home of local hippie legend Gary Young (who was also recruited to drum on the album), the album was a melting pot of abrasive lo-fi guitar, sloppy drumming and unapologetically weird songs in “Conduit For Sale!‰” and “Chesley‰’s Little Wrists.‰” Dig a bit beneath the surface, though, and you‰’ll find one of the best-written indie rock records of all time. Stephen Malkmus‰’s ear for simplistic, beautiful melody and his off-kilter unmistakable lyricism blend perfectly with the sense of adolescent energy bursting forth from the album‰’s every seam.

Listening to the album for the first time, it sounds awful. The tracks are flat, Malkmus sounds like he hates singing, the guitars are overly distorted and trebly, and it‰’s hard to tell if anyone even played a bass guitar on this album. Of all the time I‰’ve spent talking with people about the brilliance of this record, not one has admitted to liking it upon first listen, but most agree that it‰’s a gorgeous work of art if you give it enough time. This is an album about finding the beauty beneath the aesthetic. Take the “Ooh-ooh‰” section on “In The Mouth A Desert.‰” The brilliant vocal melody dances beautifully with the scratchy guitar and creates an atmosphere that sounds how I imagine Sonic Youth covering the Beach Boys would sound. It‰’s not hard to imagine these songs rearranged with softer instrumentation to make the melody and lyrical genius stand out, but part of the album‰’s pull is the intimacy it requires before showing all of its personality.

But where there are moments like Malkmus outright laughing in the middle of the opening track‰’s chorus, there are also themes of divorce, betrayal and growing pain in the otherwise eccentric, outwardly cheerily delivered lyrics. “Trigger Cut / Wounded Kite At :17‰” explores the disintegration of a relationship at the hands of infidelity and material obsession. Who is going to deny the beauty in poetry like “Take me down from the ridge where the summer ends / And watch the city spread out just like a jet’s flame / I’ve got a secret for you, I cut your angel in two / I left her bleeding and soaked it with a dry sponge?‰Û

This album feels like it is great despite its situation. The band was essentially only Malkmus and Scott Kannberg, but their songwriting genius is able to shine through. In retrospect, it may be a small miracle that the album found an audience. At this point in time, though, its legacy is cemented. Slanted & Enchanted has found its place on countless “Best of the 90s‰” lists. Any band that has had the labels “lo-fi‰” or “indie‰” slapped to their music owes partially to Pavement‰’s and more specifically, Slanted & Enchanted‰’s magic.