What qualities are required of the natural born pop star? Talent? A little helps. Movie-star looks? They won't do you any harm.
Essential, though, is the ability to take yourself seriously when all around are smirking into their beers.
Two years ago, Pavement, who were among the most vital alternative guitar bands to emerge from the pre-grunge wasteland, ran aground on the vainglory of vocalist Stephen Malkmus. He had begun to take over, dominating the albums, the interviews and the ever more glossy photo shoots.
When he departed to launch a solo career, nobody gambled on Scott Kannberg, his self-effacing lieutenant, beating him to the stump. Malkmus's self-titled debut was charismatic but predictably plodding.
Fronting Preston School of Industry, Kannberg surpassed him, crafting in All This Sounds Gas, their debut album, a rough-hewn indie pop gem.
In concert, Kannberg came over as likeable and sweetly modest, his obvious shyness barely held in check. He writes the songs, assumes most of the vocal duties and plays that familiar mangled lead guitar, yet he also hunkers in the margins as if he were merely some regular Joe who'd clambered on stage to help out.
Dipping into the Pavement back catalogue for an exquisitely ramshackle Two States, he offered teasing glimpses of the multiheaded beast the slacker kings might have become.
On Falling Away and Whale Bones, Kannberg meshed muscle and melody, revealing a nascent gift for winsome choruses. The extended blissed-out meander of Take A Stand celebrated big-sky ennui, venturing into an ethereal zone rarely explored in Pavement's later years.
With only an album and EP under their belts, Preston School of Industry suffered from a dearth of material, Kannberg's bleary, slightly forced mid-song ramblings padding a truncated set. Give them time.
