Song: "AT & T"
Artist: Pavement
Album: Wowee Zowee
Year: 1995
Length: 3:33
Label: Matador
Rating: 9.3 (out of 10) for the album on Pitchfork
Wowee Zowee was rumored to be an attempt for the band to back off the brief mainstream popularity they'd achieved through Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (namely that "Cut Your Hair" was played on a few alternative stations and MTV in the wake of the success of Nirvana and Pearl Jam), by moving away from the more straightforward cuts that inspired that album and veering into the more experimental territory that made them a cult favorite on the follow-up. The album was not well received at the time, but has since gone on to general acclaim, almost considered on par with CR, CR and the immortal Slanted and Enchanted in fans' eyes. Even lead singer Stephen Malkmus himself said this was their last "classic" record (the final two albums in the band's canon Brighten the Corners and Terror Twilight were certainly not nearly as good, at least in my eyes).
And what about this track, nestled deep on the "second side" of the album? Why do I love it so much? It's not really hard to figure out. It's just one of the catchiest songs I've ever heard, with a brief slow build that explodes into a rocking pop gem, underscored by hooks galore and Malkmus's typically inscrutable lyrics that somehow add to everything Pavement does. It's simply brilliant, despite being rather ignored by those discussing the greatest songs of the '90s. For me, it's more than that. It's one of the greatest songs of all-time.
#8 Favorite Song of All-Time
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