![\"Kurt](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Kurt-Vile-Musician-Guitarist-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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Credit: Press<\/p>\n
November 8th, 2026 \u00b7 9:45pm GMT <\/p>\n
In 1994, Pavement<\/a> were doing something that shouldn\u2019t have worked on mainstream radio, and Kurt Vile happened to be listening. <\/p>\n \u201cI was just like any other normal kid at the time,\u201d he recalled, \u201cI heard \u2018Cut Your Hair\u2019 on the radio. It was an exciting time for music on the radio, because it was getting out there\u201d.<\/p>\n When Stephen Malkmus yelled, \u201cNo big hair!\u201d at full volume, a teenage Vile in Pennsylvania decided he\u2019d found his band. \u201cI was like, \u2018Oh, this is weird.\u2019 I like it.\u201d He bought Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain on cassette soon after, lamenting later, \u201cI wish I still had that cassette\u201d.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a relatively small pivot to decide to launch a career on one shouted line, but it makes sense when you look at what Vile has done since<\/a>. He\u2019s a songwriter who has spent two decades getting profound by being deliberately casual, and Pavement were the first proof for him that the two emotions could coexist.<\/p>\n For him, humour was the hidden thread. \u201cI never really thought about Pavement using humour, but it\u2019s true,\u201d he admitted, \u201cI definitely pride myself on using humour in my music. I guess I\u2019ve got my own brand, but what\u2019s cool about Pavement is that, if you listen to their earliest recordings where they\u2019re noisier and experimental, they always have that melancholy mix with the absurd.\u201d<\/p>\n He also admires how Pavement built their legacy, which was built patiently and on their own terms. \u201cThey put out a cool 7\u201d single followed by two more cool singles and a 10\u201d before they\u2019d even released Slanted and Enchanted,\u201d Vile explained. The debut\u2019s sound effects and \u201cnoisy dimensions\u201d thrilled him, and he describes the guitar as \u201cjust adventurous\u201d. By the time Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain arrived, the band of oddballs had firmly established themselves on the radio.<\/p>\n Propelled by the unexpected commercial success of \u2018Cut Your Hair\u2019, Pavement proved that an alternative outfit could infiltrate the mainstream without filing down their jagged edges. Much of this crossover rested on Stephen Malkmus and his frontman charm<\/a>, and rather than opting for traditional rockstar theatrics, he relied on an effortless, off-hand charisma and dry lyricism that subverted the slick production of mid-\u201990s radio.<\/p>\n Further reading: From The Vault<\/p>\n Vile credited Malkmus with the musical knowledge to pull it off: \u201cHe was just a trailblazer; all of them were, really.\u201d Yet, for all the distortion and slacker anthems, the track he returns to most frequently does away with the noise entirely. \u2018Range Life\u2019 is, in Vile\u2019s words<\/a>, \u201ca perfect example of a melancholy, almost classic rock song\u201d. <\/p>\n He called the lyrics \u201clackadaisical, but nostalgic\u201d, and the whole thing \u201cjust a really pretty song\u201d. It was his favourite for years, and he still knows every detail of it.<\/p>\n Listen to his own records, and you can hear all of what makes Pavement so special. Whether it\u2019s his earlier material such as Constant Hitmaker or more expansive work like Bottle It In, the band\u2019s weaponised casualness, dry jokes tucked into melancholy verse, and gritty guitars that wander off course are firm influences. But for Vile, it was all down to Malkmus shouting about hair.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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