Wowee Zowee is the third studio album by American indie rock band Pavement, released on April 11, 1995 by Matador Records.

Its eclectic nature ranges from mellow yet distorted melodies to noise and punk rock, while the lyrics generally explore humorous and cryptic themes.

Upon release, Wowee Zowee received mixed reviews from critics, being generally deemed as a sloppy effort in comparison to its acclaimed predecessor.

A compilation containing the album in its entirety as well as B-sides and other rarities, titled Wowee Zowee: Sordid Sentinels Edition, was released in 2006.

[4] Singer and guitarist Stephen Malkmus, percussionist Bob Nastanovich, and drummer Steve West were familiar with the place because they had already worked on Silver Jews' 1994 album Starlite Walker there.

[10][11] Noise rock is prevalent on some tracks, like "Serpentine Pad" and "Best Friends Arm",[10] while "Flux = Rad" is a punk song that was described as reminiscent of Nirvana's "Territorial Pissings".

[16] For example, "Grounded", which suggests that something bad might happen after a doctor leaves for a routine holiday while his unsupervised teenage daughter parties, can be interpreted as an account of middle class decadence.

The phrase "Dick-Sucking Fool at Pussy-Licking School" was originally suggested by Nastanovich as a potential title for Wowee Zowee, but it was discarded after being considered too risky.

[21][22] Malkmus chose the songs "Rattled by the Rush" and "Father to a Sister of Thought" to be released as singles on March 30 and June 27, 1995, respectively,[1] but they were not successful.

[25] Kevin McKeough of the Chicago Tribune felt that the album was inconsistent, highlighting the songs "Rattled by the Rush", "Grounded", and "Kennel District" as "thrilling pleasures", but criticized Malkmus' "insufferably mannered vocals" on "Brinx Job", his "tiresome grunge rant" on "Serpentine Pad", and his "gratuitous screaming" at the end of "Half a Canyon".

[23] In a very negative review, Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian found Wowee Zowee difficult to enjoy, stating that it "probably helps to be a 15-year-old boy to appreciate Pavement", and believed the band does not "release albums so much as in-jokes and their fourth continues the tradition".

[24] She added that Malkmus' "monotone occasionally gives way to a pained little yips" and Kannberg "sometimes hits on a lifting melody, but mostly he sounds as confused as his colleagues".

[24] Spin writer Eric Weisbard reacted with muted praise, noting the album's "impressively distinct range of sounds and moods", while criticizing Malkmus' unconvincing vocal delivery.

Writing for CMJ New Music Monthly, editor Michael Vazquez considered Wowee Zowee a solid and ambitious album, praising its adventurous style and Malkmus' rich lyricism, but acknowledged that several listens are required for appreciation.

He also felt that the album was mellow and rarely chaotic, concluding: "if their vocation is beguiling song-music that doesn't sound like anything else or create its own rut, this reinforces one's gut feeling that they can do it forever.

[39] Retrospectively, Wowee Zowee has been reappraised in highly positive terms and is frequently viewed by many "diehard" Pavement fans as the band's best work.

[33] AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that repeated listenings reveal the album to be "a dense collage of '90s rock & roll that recasts the past and present into one rich, kaleidoscopic, and blissfully cryptic world view".

[11] Nina Corcoran of Consequence said that Wowee Zowee has become "the beloved oddball in Pavement's discography", and assumed that the band "knew what they were doing all along, even if we were reluctant to believe them at first".

[30] Sheffield explained that people started to appreciate Wowee Zowee after the band released Brighten the Corners, a radical departure that put the album's eclectic nature into perspective.

[30] He also remarked that the former was overshadowed by other successful Matador releases, such as Alien Lanes by Guided by Voices and Electr-O-Pura by Yo La Tengo.