"I was tired of the best years of my life." So sings Stephen Malkmus on Pavement [ tickets ]'s new album "Terror Twilight." Although you can never be sure whether they mean what they sing, during their June 18th sold-out show at Philadelphia's Trocadero they seemed to be telling the truth. For nearly half the set, the band drew exclusively from the new record, which finds the band moving past the spiky, sprawling rock that ensconced them in the indie pantheon to pastoral jangle pop.

Several signs suggested that the band might just decide to underwhelm the audience. Reports from the previous night's show at New York City's Irving Plaza said the show ''sucked'' and ''was boring.'' Plus, Stephen Malkmus' throat was ailing.

The first song, Here from ''Slanted and Enchanted,'' didn't raise any hopes. The first words of the opener tumbled out in a croak. Malkmus' cracked warble obviously annoyed him; he rolled his eyes and touched his hands to his throat as if in apology.

Despite this, they all seemed to be having fun. Steve West, Mark Ibold, and Scott Kannberg flailed away on their instruments (drums, bass and guitar, respectively). Even the set seemed to be a sign of cheer - a backdrop full of scrawled stars and a string of colored lights roped around the drum kit, the amps, and the mics.

Although they had been far from wooden, up to that point you'd never know that these guys were indie rock's crown jewels. They weren't captivating, just merely affable, and it led one to think of ''There's Nothing Wrong With Love,'' the Built To Spill album that the house played between bands.

Were these slackers going to sit by and let Doug Martsch take over the quirk-rock crown? With The Hexx, they answered no. (Not that they would care that someone was asking.) The song, which pits a lumbering bass line against guitar noodling, returned the band to its area of expertise -- the applied physics of bludgeon and twang. They were awake now.

One song later, they skated through Stereo, which embodies all that is Pavement-crackpot poetry that yokes together malaria and Def Leppard, a shout-sung chorus, the guitar attack. Malkmus shook his hips, the rest of the band bounced around on stage, and the scene looked like a punk-rock version of a Peanuts jam session.

After tossing off that bit of exuberance, the evening turned. Soon Malkmus' voice showed signs of having conquered his rusty throat, and he managed to keep shadowed grace of Ann Don't Cry intact. His guitar playing started to give off sparks.

Summer Babe inspired a sing-along before the encore, which mixed songs from ''Crooked Rain'' and ''Slanted and Enchanted.'' It began with Gold Soundz, during which Malkmus let the crowd take the line ''and they're coming to the chorus now.'' The floorboards rocked with the audience's jumping and it didn't let up until the end of the 5-song encore - it seemed to peak during Two States, egged on by Kannberg's yelping out ''40 million daggers.''

The Philadelphia crowd was made up primarily of young sweaty guys in t-shirts who bellowed ''We love you!'' and didn't care that Pavement just released a very pretty Sleepytime tea record. They were completely devoid of indie snobbery. Cheers went up earlier when Malkmus sang the line about the futility of being an architecture student from The Hexx. It's safe to say that no one in the New York audience, probably lousy with post-grads, would have done that.

By the end of the night, Pavement had worked themselves up an impressive guitar buzz. But just as they had found their feet, they politely waved to the audience and loped offstage, leaving the crowd exultant and stomping for another round. The premature departure made sense, however -- these guys have always been heartbreakers. They threaten to stand you up, leaving you wondering if their every move is a put-on.

But they're too nice to really leave you hanging. No sooner do they show up, though, coming on with charm and passion, and it's time to kiss you goodnight. Hopefully that exit was a dress rehearsal for the day they finally call it quits - which if MTV News is to be believed, might be soon. And it's better to leave us wanting more, remembering nothing but that off-kilter beauty.