Preston School Of Industry: All This Sounds Gas

The first release by a former member following Pavement's long, public breakup, Stephen Malkmus' excellent self-titled solo debut seemed to confirm that the former frontman had been the driving force behind the band. Preston School Of Industry's All This Sounds Gas, the first album by Malkmus' ex-bandmate Scott Kannberg (sometimes known as Spiral Stairs), calls that conclusion into question from its first note. Like Malkmus' album, the disc is distinctly Pavement-like, but in an altogether different fashion. Where Malkmus tightened up the song structures and found a (relatively) straightforward sound on his solo debut, Gas lets the mystery be. Like early Pavement tracks, PSOI's songs find pop hooks almost in spite of themselves. Not sloppy so much as gracefully shambling, "Whalebones," "Falling Away," and "Solitaire" have the assurance of a tipsy tightrope walker, but the sense that the whole endeavor could fall apart at any moment only improves the performance. Naturally, there's craft beneath the seeming carelessness. The inspired combination of organ and slide guitar on "A Treasure @ Silver Bank (This Dynasty's For Real)" doesn't happen by accident. "Doping For Gold" and other tracks even allow Kannberg to engage in unabashed guitar heroics. And while his lyrics remain layered in obfuscation, his melodies possess enough emotional directness to make that practically irrelevant. The world lost a great band when Pavement packed it in, but any breakup that can produce two albums of this caliber in one year can't be all bad.