“Former PAVEMENT member STEVE WEST” the sticker on the album yells at me, and as I listen I can certainly hear the Pavement influence, in so much as it is crafty and horizontal at times, but there are elements of Beck in the vocals, a mix of chugging monotone and laidback bass. There’s a pleasantry about the pace, and the lyrics stumble through metaphors with
ease. Stand out tracks: the flippant indie of ‘I Could Drink an Ocean’; the dark witticism of ‘Fag & Ah Light’, with its musings on the afterlife (and the cracking chorus line “Hey man, can I bum a fag and a light?”); and the delightfully synth-infused ‘Desert’ which sounds like Primal
Scream smothering Lou Reed at times – and it’s great!
