I was born in 1988. It is currently 2006, and I am 18 years old. But to me it is 1995, and Pavement just released their latest album Wowee Zowee.See, my love for Pavement didn't start at the end of their career. It started at the release of Slanted and Enchanted: Luxe and Reduxe. I picked the album up in 2002 at the tender age of fifteen, while I was in my Matador Records loving stage (also known as the "I just started listening to indie-rock" stage...at least to me). I never heard a Pavement song ever in my life (this is somewhat of a lie; my mom purchased Schoolhouse Rock, Rocks! and I listened to that album religiously but didn't realize until 2003 or 2004 that it was Pavement that covered "No More Kings"). I tossed Weezer's self-titled debut in the closet and studied Pavement. When Crooked Rain Crooked Rain: LA's Desert Origins was released, I picked this reissue up as well, and my love for a defunct band continued.And today, I finally recieved my copy of Wowee Zowee: Sordid Sentinels Edition in the mail. Yes I participated in the pre-order fun. Yes I downloaded the rare live recording. Yes I recieved the limited 7" record. And yes, I recieved the cool poster by artist Steve Keene. But none of that shit matters. To me, I just got the latest Pavement album.(Here is where I will talk about the album, but not go into detail. I am not Lester Bangs...yet.)Frankly it is an awesome departure for Pavement. The album doesn't take one sound and work out of that, but takes five or six different styles of music and blends it into what is great experimentation for S.M. and the gang. Highlights for me include "Rattled by the Rush", "Brinx Job", "Father to a Sister of Thought", "Extradition", "AT&T", and "Fight This Generation."(Back into my love of Pavement.)One thing I never did was listen to Pavement out of order. Well, I do have Brighten The Corners and Terror Twilight, but I don't have those albums. I never purchased them and owned the jewel case, the gatefold, the sleeve in the album. I never put them in my car stereo and listened to them all the way through, no skipping tracks. Yes you can tell me I don't have the originals, and I am spoiled with all the extra tracks that come with these re-releases. But music these days isn't like Pavement. Decent rock and roll is dead. And Pavement is a shot in the arm of 13 year old adrenaline for me.