Pavement has returned with a piece of music that feels both intimate and historic. The band released a new track titled “Please Be Happy (For Us)” which arrives as the first single from the upcoming Louder Than You Think soundtrack. The song stands out as one of the final creative moments shared with their late founding drummer, Gary Young, who passed away in 2023.
“Please Be Happy (For Us)” began as a loose idea Gary Young improvised during filming for the 2023 documentary Louder Than You Think. The fragment was later expanded into a full track by Scott “Spiral Stairs” Kannberg, who built a swirling instrumental around Young’s original spark, while Stephen Malkmus added bursts of feedback that give the song its raw edge. The result is a posthumous collaboration that bridges Pavement’s earliest spirit with the reflective tone of their later years. It is heartfelt, slightly off kilter and unmistakably tied to the eccentric energy Young brought to the band from the beginning.
The track leads the official soundtrack Louder Than You Think: A Lo-Fi History of Gary Young and Pavement, which arrives in early 2026 through Independent Project Records. The release collects rare and previously unheard recordings from Gary Young, their Stockton circle and Pavement including several live cuts from May 1992. While the soundtrack spans multiple punk and post punk acts from the era, “Please Be Happy (For Us)” anchors the project with a sense of closure. It is both a tribute and a farewell captured just before Young’s death and now offered as a reminder of his unpredictable creativity.
A second digital single “Summer Babe (Live May 19 1992)” will follow on December 3.
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