Pavement: Hecklers Choice-Big Gums And Heavy Lifters | Pavements (Original Soundtrack) [Album Review]

“From hits to oddities, these releases capture Pavement at their most iconic and their most unhinged.”

Album Overview: Pavement emerged from the early ’90s indie underground with five era-defining records that shaped the sound of crooked guitars and sideways humor. After calling it quits near the end of the decade, the band’s legend only grew, helped along by their 2022 reunion tour and younger fans discovering them through streaming. Their two new releases—Hecklers Choice: Big Gums and Heavy Lifters and The Pavements (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)—arrive at a moment when Pavement’s legacy feels both cemented and oddly elastic, stretching across generations without losing its oddball charm.

Taken together, these releases spotlight two very different corners of the Pavement universe. Hecklers Choice works as a lean introduction, updating Quarantine the Past with a more streamlined and remastered tracklist built around songs people still blast today. The lack of anything from Wowee Zowee—especially “Rattled by the Rush” or “Father to a Sister of Thought”—is a pretty noticeable void, and one more cut from Slanted and Enchanted would’ve rounded things out. Still, it’s priced right and functions well as a starter kit.

The Pavements soundtrack lands firmly in fan-service territory: part live album, part rehearsal-room snapshot, part scrapbook from the film’s chaotic world. The reunion-era performances and their version of “Witchitai-To” are the clear standouts, while the dialogue bits and staged scenes stretch the runtime and occasionally break the momentum. It’s a curious companion piece—fun and weird in a way longtime fans will appreciate, but uneven for casual listeners.

Musical Style: Across both releases, Pavement’s classic mix of loose execution and sly hooks remains intact. The compilation leans on the bright, jangly material that made the band’s name—“Summer Babe – Winter Version,” “Range Life,” and more. The soundtrack shifts the spotlight to rawer settings: messy rehearsals, sharp live takes, and left-field reinterpretations pulled from the film’s universe. Together, they underline how Pavement thrives in the space between ragged spontaneity and hummable melody.

Evolution of Sound: These releases trace the band’s journey from four-track haze to their later, more tuneful stretch. Hecklers Choice sketches that arc in broad strokes, even if certain eras get shortchanged. The soundtrack adds a reunion-era chapter, where the band plays with a balance of looseness and maturity. Old favorites get new edges, detours fit neatly into the chaos, and the occasional cover shows how flexible their songwriting remains.

Artists with Similar Fire: Listeners who vibe with Pavement’s crooked guitars and dry wit might also find something to love in Silver Jews, Sebadoh, Superchunk, Archers of Loaf, or Built to Spill. The soundtrack’s quirky, narrative-leaning moments also place it in the orbit of They Might Be Giants or The Magnetic Fields—but Pavement’s slanted angle is still unmistakable.

Pivotal Tracks: On Hecklers Choice, tracks like “Gold Soundz,” “Cut Your Hair,” “Stereo,” and “Range Life” continue to define the band’s reputation. “Harness Your Hopes” earns its viral-era placement, even if it still feels like a deep cut at heart. The soundtrack’s best moments sit in the reunion performances—“Witchitai-To,” “In the Mouth a Desert” (Live), “Two States” (Live), and Snail Mail’s cover of “Shoot the Singer”—each offering a lively spin on familiar material.

Lyrical Strength: Stephen Malkmus’ writing still stands out for its mix of tossed-off brilliance, surreal images, and humor that sneaks up on you. The compilation highlights how many lines from Pavement’s catalog have quietly become part of the indie-rock DNA. The soundtrack, with its reimagined and reframed lyrics, shows how adaptable those words remain—even when bent, borrowed, or dropped into a meta-film universe.

Final Groove: Neither of these releases is essential, but each offers something worth digging into—one as a sharp intro, the other as a messy, charming add-on for the faithful. Together, they capture both the polish and the scruff of a band that never played things straight. For longtime fans, it’s another excuse to celebrate Pavement’s long shadow; for newcomers, it’s a sideways entry into one of indie rock’s most quietly influential catalogs. And with the band’s legacy continuing to shift in real time, it feels like there may be more unexpected chapters ahead.

PAVEMENT REVIEW HISTORY
The Secret History, Vol. 1 (2015)

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