From the Rock Vault, Pavement edition
I was flipping through the fourth issue of ye olde Seven, the quarterly Scat Records publication that lasted for about three years or so beginning in 1989. As you can probably guess from the title, Seven featured reviews of 7" records. I'll readily admit that most of the records reviewed come from bands I've never heard of, and really the most entertaining thing about the 'zines these many years later is how the reviewers (mostly Robert Griffin and Tim Tobias) find new and exciting ways to rip on the majority of the platters. Take, for instance, an excerpt from Tobias's review of a record by Stukas:
Robert, can I give a minus rating? Robert, were you mad at me for something the day you gave me this? I have a good idea. Let's you and I rewrite history and pretend that you never received this record and that you never passed it along to me because I feel violated by this record. And I wonder what I did to you to deserve this.
Or, how about Griffin's review of Dead Steelmill's "It's All Over" EP:
The songs as a whole suffer from typical post-'82 hardcore syndrome -- that is, the songs are collections of riffs, not songs. The singer has an unpleasant voice that wouldn't compare favorably with any given poodle's yelping. Great hand-painted sleeve, though.
Anyway, this particular issue, from Fall 1990, is notable for the inclusion of the Demolition Plot J-7 EP by some Drag City band called Pavement. This, avid Treble Kicker fans will note, was their follow-up to their self-released debut, Slay Tracks. Proving once again that he knows gold when he sees it, Griffin gave DPJ-7 a rare 4.5 rating. The review, interestingly enough, was tucked between reviews of 7"'s by Traci Starr ("no goddamn rating") and Seaweed (which merited a 3.5). Check it:
There's also an ad for the record on the same page as the review:
