New solo from Pavement co-founder Scott Kannberg (aka Spiral Stairs)!!
Following Pavement’s dissolution at the end of last millenium, after releasing two albums of amiable, ornate indie-rock in the early 2000s as Preston School Of Industry, Kannberg lay low for a half-decade before reviving the Spiral Stairs moniker for 2009’s The Real Feel — only to sideline his solo pursuits for another eight years. But starting with 2017’s Doris And The Daggers, Kannberg ignited the most prolific stretch of his post-Pavement career.
Through it all, we’ve gotten a clearer picture of who Scott Kannberg really is, as he’s applied applied crucial formative influences like the Clean, R.E.M., and the Talking Heads to wry ruminations on aging, fatherhood, the unsettled state of America, and the untimely loss of close friends. His new record, MEDLEY ATTACK!!! is is both his most musically adventurous and open-hearted work to date, fusing Squeeze-inspired soul-pop romps (“Mole”), zoned-out psych-funk jams (“Baron Please –> Medley Attack!!!”), and West African-style guitar sketches (“Hey ’70”) while lyrically grappling with the 2021 death of his long-time bassist Matt Harris.