Having recently watched Alex Ross Perry’s 2024 movie about Pavement, Pavements, I’m more convinced than ever that the band is one of the most influential — and substantial — rock groups of the past 40 years. You can hear how Pavement has shaped the music of subsequent rockers on the Nashville band Future Crib’s 2025 album Impossible Songs. Future Crib doesn’t have Pavement’s edge, so there aren’t any moments on Impossible Songs where you can discern, say, the spirit of Mark E. Smith, the leader of British post-punk band The Fall, encroaching on the proceedings. In other words, the group doesn’t strike me as avant-garde — they say they’re influenced by Wilco, and I can hear that throughout Impossible Songs. Still, Future Crib sounds like they’re observing our current dystopia through the lens of an up-and-coming rock band in Nashville. They reference Devo and famed stunt performer Evel Knievel in “Crush,” one of the best tunes on Impossible Songs. Meanwhile, “Only a Wheel’s Worth” and “Particular” combine Pavement and Wilco in ways you’ll appreciate, and the album ends up sounding tougher — and more acerbic — than you might expect. On May 20 at Harken Hall, they share the bill with John Cooper Albright and Vivienne Blue. EDD HURT
6:30 p.m. at Harken Hall
514 Madison Station Blvd., Madison
