Preston School of Industry

The break-up of Pavement has ironically turned out to be an almost beneficial event for those who loved the band, since the corollary of their dissolution has been, well, even more records that sound like Pavement. Earlier this year we had the debut solo album from former frontman Stephen Malkmus, and now it’s the turn of the group’s onetime guitarist Spiral Stairs, a.k.a. Scott Kannberg.

Tonight marks the first visit to these shores of Kannberg’s brand new quartet Preston School Of Industry, to promote their recently released All This Sounds Gas.

Kannberg throws himself enthusiastically into the performance, delivering the songs with intensity and tossing out the odd quip between numbers (the line “Do they play the blues in Portmarnock?” is priceless). The show really takes off a few tracks in with ‘Whale Bones’, which gives way to the winningly jaunty ‘Suddenly Stable’. So far, so cheeky, but one thing Kannberg’s old band never got enough credit for was their more downbeat side. They could be facetious and throwaway for sure, but one listen to, say, ‘Type Slowly’ off Brighten The Corners should offer enough evidence that Pavement were far more than collegiate pranksters.

Tonight, when PSOI venture out into the same plaintive territory, the results are eerie, beautiful, and seriously fucking impressive. It’s the highlight of an evening not untouched by great moments. For the encore they even throw in a couple of old Pavement tunes, before wrapping things up with a superb Pernice Brothers cover. Perhaps the best line to end on is the central refrain from ‘Encyclopaedic Knowledge Of’ – “We know that you like us.”

Like them? We love ‘em.