Released April 11, 1995 | Release date 11 April 1995 Length 55:51 | |
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Recorded November 14–24, 1994, Easley Recording Studios, Memphis, TennesseeFebruary 10–14, 1995, Random Falls Studio, New YorkDecember 2–5, 1994 and January 2–5, 1995, Speed Mix Studio Similar Crooked Rain - Crooked, Brighten the Corners, Slanted and Enchanted, Terror Twilight, Westing (By Musket and Sext | ||
Pavement we dance
Wowee Zowee is the third studio album by American indie rock band Pavement. The album showcased a more experimental and spontaneous side of the group, returning them to the clatter and unpredictability of their early recordings after the more traditional rock sound of 1994's Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain.
Contents
- Pavement we dance
- Recording
- Title
- Cover art
- Reception
- Legacy
- Track listing
- Personnel
- Wowee Zowee Sordid Sentinels Edition
- Disc One
- Disc Two
- Songs
- References
Rolling Stone speculated that the relative success of their previous album (having sold 169,000 copies by this time) was a reason for this album's eclectic nature; the magazine's review claimed Pavement were afraid of success. Stephen Malkmus refuted this, saying that while his judgement may have been clouded by excessive marijuana usage, the songs "sounded like hits" to him. Rolling Stone later voted Wowee Zowee the 12th Coolest Album of all time.
Matador Records released an expanded 2 disc edition of this album under the title Wowee Zowee: Sordid Sentinels Edition on November 6, 2006, which featured extensive liner notes, outtakes and b-sides.
Recording
The songs "Grounded," "Flux = Rad," "Pueblo," and "Kennel District" were originally written at the same time as the songs that became Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, and rough versions appear on Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: LA's Desert Origins disc 2.
The album was recorded at Easley Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, with the exception of some tracks recorded at Random Falls, a recording studio in New York.
Title
The album's title is an homage to former drummer Gary Young, who would frequently yell "Wowee zowee!" when excited. The phrase also notably dates to Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention's 1966 album Freak Out!, which featured a track titled "Wowie Zowie".
Dick-Sucking Fool at Pussy-Licking School (conceived by Bob Nastanovich) was briefly considered as a potential album title, but discarded after being considered too risque by the rest of the band. Nevertheless, the phrase is included in the album's booklet art. The would-be title was a nod to the Rolling Stones' Cocksucker Blues.
Cover art
The cover art was painted by New York-based artist Steve Keene. The painting is a copy of a photograph originally found in Life Magazine's 1972 World Library title The Arab World, which depicted two sitting women, dressed in dark robes. To their right stands a dark colored goat with curled horns. Omitted from Keene's copy of the photograph is a girl in a tan dress holding a baby, stationed between the two sitting women. The caption below the original photo reads, "A midday rest is enjoyed by three Arab women and a goat on an arbor-shaded porch. Fellahin women often wear black robes over their other clothing."
Malkmus picked the artwork from a stack of 50 or more works that Keene produced during a live painting session at one of his exhibitions. Malkmus chose the piece due to its resemblance to Guru Guru's 1972 album, Känguru an album cover that he had always admired.
Reception
From contemporary reviews, Select gave the album a rating of four out of five, stating that there's "plenty of Pavement's lazy elegance" particularly when the elegiac sweeps of 'We Dance' recall 'Hunky Dory'". The Guardian gave a negative review, stating that it "probably helps to be a 15-year-old boy to appreciate Pavement" and that the group does not "release albums so much as in-jokes and their fourth continues the tradition." The review concluded that Malkmus' "monotone occasionally gives way to a pained little yips" and Spiral Stairs "sometimes hits on a lifting melody, but mostly he sounds as confused as his colleagues."
As of 2010, the original version of Wowee Zowee had sold 129,000 copies, and the reissue had sold 32,000 copies. These numbers are a notable drop-off from their previous release, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, which sold 246,000 of the original and 75,000 of the reissue.
Legacy
In 2010, author Bryan Charles wrote a book about the album as part of the 33⅓ book series, in which he interviews all members of Pavement, as well as Matador Records founders Gerard Cosloy and Chris Lombardi.
The indie rock band Boat parodied the album's cover art, among several others, on its 2011 release Dress Like Your Idols.
Jason Lytle included Pavement's "Motion Suggests" when he compiled Artist's Choice—Below the Radio, a various artists collection. That song's actual title, "Motion Suggests Itself", was incorrectly listed on Wowee Zowee due to a transcription error and was not corrected until the expanded reissue eleven years later.
Track listing
All tracks written by Stephen Malkmus, except where noted.
Personnel
Wowee Zowee: Sordid Sentinels Edition
Wowee Zowee: Sordid Sentinels Edition is a two CD compilation album by Pavement released on November 7, 2006. It contains Wowee Zowee in its entirety, as well as 32 of the band's other songs from that era, 18 of which were previously unreleased.
Matador Records offered extra items to people who pre-ordered the reissue. Those who chose to pre-order the album received a code redeemable on the Wowee Zowee: Sordid Sentinels Edition website for a rare recording of a live Pavement show at the Palace in Los Angeles on April 21, 1994. Also included in the pre-order deal was a free 7" record which included previously unreleased studio versions of the songs "Black Out" and "Extradition" and a poster based on a painting that artist Steve Keene originally contributed for the original release of Wowee Zowee in 1995.
The track "Motion Suggests Itself" was mistitled on the original release by the omission of its title's final word due to a transcription error. The Sordid Sentinels Edition finally rectified this mistake.
A different version of "Easily Fooled" appeared on Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: LA's Desert Origins as "The Sutcliffe Catering Song". Also, an early version of "Brink of the Clouds" with an intro and outro appeared on the same album.
Disc One
Disc Two
Songs
1We Dance3:01
2Rattled by la Rush4:16
3Black Out2:10