Customer Reviews

All This Sounds Gas

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When Mick Jones left the Clash and formed Big Audio Dynamite, the joke among Clash fans was that if you dubbed the Clash's final Jones-less album and the new BAD album together on a tape you could pretend that the band had never really broken up. In some respects, this logic applies to Pavement with regards to Malkmus' wonderful solo debut and Scott's new band, PSOI. Much like Mick Jones, Scott had very few songs of his own with Pavement, but the ones he did have always stood out and his guitar work was a prominent part of the band. Can his songs hold up on their own however? "All This Sounds Gar" proves that indeed they can; Scotts guitar work is as strong as ever, his vocals hold their own, and his song arrangments are interesting. Unlike most Pavement releases, however, the music is far from groundbreaking. Scott's mix of guitar based indie rock with the slightest influence of twang-free country is tried and true, and purely a matter of preference; this is one album where fans know exactly what they're getting when they buy it, and it's consistent enough the few fans of the genre will be disappointed. There are a few standout tracks: Solitaire has some interesting keyboards, Doping for Gold has some stellar guitar work and vocals and, ending on an emotional, energetic note that recalls Scott's work with Pavement at its best, and Idea of Fires is an upbeat bit of folk-rock that slows down for it's brilliant sing-along chorus, only to pick up again for some trademark buzzing guitar. It's these standout tracks that make one believe PSOI is capable of much more, however. At recent live shows, the band ripped through only the best tracks on the album (and unofficial confirmation that other songs perhaps weren't up to par) with such energy that most of the crowd who had never heard of them were drooling. Doping For Gold, in particular, benefitted from the frantic and intense drumming; it rocked so hard most of the crowd had goose bumps , and the new found energy only made the underlying emotions behind the song that much stronger. Thus, it's not illogical to believe and PSOI is capable of producing songs much better than some of this material. Keep your eyes out for future releases by the band, we can expect great things. In the meantime, "All This Sounds Gas" is a rewarding way to pass the time before the band's inevitable "Wowee Zowee" epic is released.

I realize that every review I've ever posted on Amazon has been a negative one. I'm not a negative person; I just want to prevent people from making the same mistakes I've made, such as buying "The Man Who Was Dr. Seuss." So, I wanted to finally add something positive to this website and rather than give OK Computer its 1,200th 5-star review I'd like to try to turn someone on to this tragically underrated album. Scott Kannberg (aka Spiral Stairs) took all the most melodic and beautiful elements of Pavement's best work and brought them to PSOI. I wholeheartedly agree with other reviewers that All This Sounds Gas easily trumps any of Malkmus's post-Pavement efforts. Download the free Whalebones mp3 above. If you don't like that than take a high-powered rifle and kindly remove yourself from the gene pool. If you do then buy the album; you won't regret it.

P.S. I got a chance to meet Kannberg at an LA show and he's a geniunely nice guy!

Sometimes, you don't know what you have until it's gone. I guess I never realized what an important element of Pavement Spiral Stairs was until I heard SM's solo album... while I love "Stephen Malkmus", it's missing the Spiral Stairs tunes that always served as such as great counterpoint to SM's erudite musings.

Well, fear not, because there is almost an hour's worth of those tunes contained within the slime-green CD that is "All This Sounds Gas". The album is lo-fi sounding--- think pre-"Brighten The Corners" sonically. Guitars sound real, drums primitive, vocals alive. Musically, it's guitar-pop with a few countryish touches. It reminded me a little of the Frank Black album "Dog in The Sand".

There are some very strong tunes. Overall, I'm not as in love with it as SM's solo album, but it's a great, tunefull and well-written album that will spend plenty of time in any Pavement fan's CD player.

All This Sounds Gas is another record released in 2001 by an ex-Pavement member. This time, the honour goes to Spiral Stairs [aka Scott Kannberg], who contributed guitar and occasional vocal duties to Pavement. Apparently some of these songs were written by Spiral for Pavement's final album 'Terror Twilight', but obviously weren't released on that record. However, on their new home on All This Sounds Gas, these Spiral written songs have more room to breathe, as opposed to being surrounded by Malkmus' songs on the Pavement albums. The album has a raw lo-fi feel (as it was recorded onto 4-track minidisc), and continues the Pavement trend of having many different genres blended into one album (and in some cases even into single songs). Being a debut album, there are one or two obligatory dud songs, but the standout tunes (including 'Whalebones' and 'Solitare') outweigh the duds by far. Discussion has been rife over whether the PSOI or SM album is the best post-Pavement album so far, I say pick them both up and compare for yourselves, as both albums are fine indeed.

I bought my first PSOI recording ('idea of fires' single) by accident on a CD buying binge. Luckily I'm a big-time pavement fan.

Idea of fires is a cool song, but it was the last track 'save our happiness' that got me hooked.

I had to get 'all this sounds gas' imported (i live in a cultural back-water) and i'm not regretting paying a huge amount for it. It's really just as cool as any pavement album (except crooked rain crooked rain and maybe not as cool as twilight terror) but it's different. The singing sounds different and there are alot more sounds going on and it takes a bit to get used to, but after a few listens, you'll love it.
There's also some wiered, cool lines that'll just get stuck in your head and give you a smile that will last a while. Lines such as 'jets are breaking sound, my feet still stuck into the ground' and others.

What can I say, i'm no music schollar, but if you are into pavement, or any cruisy, popy, rock and roll, give it a listen.

This is an excellent first release from ex-pavement guitar wizard Spiral Stairs. I think it fair to say that this album will not conjour up a new indie rock revolution, however, it certainly is worth your time. It bounces along quite nicely; a frollicking, mid-tempo mess. It isn't really fair to compare this record to Stephen Malkmus' solo effort as they are definately not attempting to accomplish the same thing. Both records, however, are better then Pavement's last release - the dreary and abysmal Terror Twilight.

Definately go and see Scott and Co. live if you get a chance. I saw them last week in Tempe at a very small venue and they certainly did a much better job then the Stephen and the Jicks did when they played there.

"It's a brand new era... it feels great."

While Malkumus is content with playing laid back both live and on album, Spiral is stepping out from his shadow and taking the crown that SM has so clearly given up. This album far outshines SM's and has more sincerity and power than anything Pavement has done for a while as well. Pavement may be dead, but Spiral is just getting started. There is a warmth and passion here that has been missing from rock for some time. I cannot stress to you how much I love this album...oh, yes I can...remember what it felt like when you listened to Pavement? Well, if you have grown up a bit and are ready for the next chapter in that history, then you will feel the same but even somehow more satisfied, maybe it is age of both yourself or Spiral, but something just catches here and doesn't let go. Forget those reviews that say this is missing something. It isn't. I am glad SM isn't evident, it is about time Spiral got his shot. He wrote some great anthems for Pavement and now his anthems sound more self-assured and powerful than ever. This is proof that Malkumus wasn't Pavement. Get this and realize why it is one of the very best albums of the year. And you know what makes it so great? It improves with every listen...kind of like someone else we all used to know. Spiral keep it up, this is greatness.

i loved pavement.....mostly their mellow stuff (range life, etc)so i dig a good portion of these tunes...treasure @ silver bank is my favorite....a great song w/ pedal steel.....great for a mix tape/cd of the year's best country songs along with ryan adams, jay farrar, and mercury rev

I love Pavement. And when he was in Pavement, I thought Spiral Stairs rocked. While this CD is okay, it isn't great in my opinion. I don't see myself listening to it much in the future. I think Spiral Stairs is a very talented guitar player, however, I don't think he was looking for that kind of sound for this album. Most of the album struck me as slow and, frankly, boring. No crazy guitar riffs like the old days. My advice would be to not get your expectations up for something like a Pavement release. However, don't discount Spiral Stairs' independent effort; just because I don't find it that inspiring doesn't mean you won't.

I haven't listened to this enough to give a coherent opinion yet, but the Amazon reviewer and some of these other ones seem not to have noticed that Malkmus was Pavement's lead guitarist along with its principal singer. I know its atypical -- and I very much dig Scott's fiesty guitar on early Pavement records -- but SM gets credit for the definitively Pavementy leads on "Slanted" and the others. So don't go in with the mistaken impression that this will sound like SM's guitar work. That said, I always loved Scott's contributions to Pavement records (and that great lost PAvement song on the "Brain Candy" soundtrack). Toward the end (and on his solo record) SM got too verbose and self-consciously difficult. Scott seemed to want you to connect with his songs while SM wants to confuse you. So anyway, I'm looking forward to giving this more listens. Let's give it 4 outa 5 for now.