Shady Lane was the second and final single taken from the album Brighten The Corners (1997). In some ways, it was a strange release, being a full four months after the LP had come out. But in saying that, it was always regarded as one of its best and most accessible tracks and a great candidate for a stand-alone single…with a caveat!
The track on the album is, in effect, split into two halves – Shady Lane followed by J vs S, with the latter being a languid piece of instrumental music which begins around the 2:30 mark as the last notes of Shady Lane are played and sung. The version that was issued as the single removed J vs S, and offered a modified title:
mp3: Pavement -Shady Lane (Krossfader)
Four other songs were split across the 2xCD format….one was in a standard jewel case with the other being a digipak….and it was the digipak version I eventually picked up.
mp3: Pavement – Wanna Mess You Around
mp3: Pavement – No Tan Lines
The former is just 87 seconds in length, and the allmusic description of it being dynamic, noisy punk is accurate. It’s total throwaway stuff…..and a word of warning…..there’s a bit lot of swearing in the chorus!
The latter is more of an actual song and while it has something of a feel of a something still in demo form, it could easily have been licked into shape for inclusion on Brighten The Corners.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 