It's great to hear Pavement back together. Despite their acrimonious breakup a couple of years back, 'The Murky World Of Seats' sees the band making the logical transition from 'Terror Twilight', with Stephen Malkmus' thin voice acting as the perfect counterpoint to Spiral Stair's elegant lead lines and the wonky-but-wonderful rhythm section of…

I'm sorry, I'm being facetious. This isn't Pavement, although it might be hard to pick it on first listen. Garlic are, in fact, a seven piece from the UK, and 'The Murky World Of Seats' is a damn fine album in its own right - but the ghost of their primary slacker influence is rattling some pretty audible chains.

The poppy Courgette is an absolute dead ringer for the 'Ment, as is the gentle, lap-steel-infused Pig. Slave To The Summer; Son has the same waggish rock-out charm of Stereo and vocalist Mike Wyzgowski has the same breathy drawl and penchant for a stream-of-consciousness lyric as Malkmus (just listen to Little Wreckage and try not to picture Steven's lanky frame at the mic).

Mind you, it's not all Pavement-isms: the splendid Wheels Set is a sprightly guitar pop tune not unlike a very perky Seafood, and the opening Animals is a Sparklehorse-style piano'n'pedal steel ballad. And while they lose points for having a secret track a few minutes after the end of Our Generation (that's just so 1993), they win them back by it being a gentle alternate version of Wheels Set.

Yes, they sound like their influences - but since that's not stopped people taking an interest in slavish copyists like The Strokes and The Vines, it shouldn't stop you from exploring 'The Murky World Of Seats'.

Andrew P Street

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