By the time they broke up in 1999, Pavement had a strong claim to being the hippest American indie band around, with an illustrious list of admirers that included Radiohead and Blur. Still, frontman Stephen Malkmus effectively was Pavement, and his first solo album hardly departs at all from his old band's endearingly unorthodox style, containing the same blend of lo-fi pop and bizarre lyrics delivered in the bemused monotone that has become Malkmus's trademark. And just to maintain the continuity, there's also a certain amount of dross that prevents it from being a completely satisfying experience. Nevertheless, it's a highly entertaining album from one of America's true pop mavericks.