10 Rock Music Bands That Quit On Top
2. Pavement
Like most legacy acts, Pavement have embarked on a reunion tour to fill the coffers. But unlike most bands, who refuse to rule out getting back in the studio, the indie act has been unequivocal: there’ll be no more music.
With a five-album run as perfect as theirs, what would be the point in risking tarnishing it? From ‘92’s lo-fi Slanted And Enchanted, to ‘98’s Terror Twilight, they’ve had commercial peaks and troughs, but as one of the great cult acts of the decade, they’ve done nothing but bolster their reputation and created an audience of contemporaneous and latter-day fans selling out new tours as soon as they go on sale.
Pavement’s influence can still be felt massively in bands like Parquet Courts. The true mark of a great discography is that you can make a strong case that each album is their best; five different Pavement fans would give you five different answers.
It’s not impossible they’ll go back on their word and bring out something new, and based on frontman Stephen Malkmus’ output, it’d likely be very good. If they never record again, though, they have a legacy of six immensely productive years belying their reputation as the ultimate slackers.