Pavement and Values

Do Pavement represent the values of our society? Well, yes and no.
Yes in the regard that Pavement were the first band to garner a good amount of success without the support of a major label. Even more, they denied multiple offers from major labels so they could stay true to their production roots. This shows that Pavement were happy with being who they are, and did not need support from a label that would surely change their sound and overproduce them. Pavement are a good example of a band that worked very hard to be heard, and their hard work was instrumental in their success and cult band status.
On the other hand, to some Pavement came across as very lazy. Even though they worked very hard, Stephen Malkmus lyrics and vocals oozed laziness and a type of "burned out" feeling. This gave listeners the idea that Malkmus smoked a lot of marijuana, which he did. This was not a good influence on a lot of the teenage listeners because Malkmus was seen as a rock idol. However, Malkmus was very smart, having majored in History at University of Virgina.
Long Live Le Pavement!