Pavement Members Join Utah Boy Fit Check Trend As “Harness Your Hopes” Goes Viral On TikTok Again
The strange saga of Pavement’s Terror Twilight-era B-side “Harness Your Hopes” has taken another turn. Back in 1999, when it first appeared on Pavement’s Spit On A Stranger EP, the song was not a noteworthy part of the band’s catalog, but two decades years later, it somehow got caught up in Spotify’s algorithm, becoming Pavement’s biggest streaming hit. The band made a music video for “Harness Your Hopes” when they gave Terror Twilight the deluxe reissue treatment in 2022, and the song became a mainstay of their live show during that year’s reunion tour.
Now, “Harness Your Hopes” has gone viral a second time due to a separate internet-borne phenomenon: a TikTok trend known as Utah Fit Check. On March 22, TikTokker @michaelmal568 posted a video captioned “utah boy fit check? (just wanted to show off the gazelles)” soundtracked by “Harness Your Hopes.” In the video, he pulls on the sides of his pants, then jumps in the air to do a 720-degree spin:
@michaelmal568 utah boy fit check? (just wanted to show off the gazelles) #foryou #utahfitcheck #ootd #inmichaelwetrust ♬ Harness Your Hopes – B-side – Pavement
The clip went viral, and other TikTok users began emulating it with their own pants-pulling, jump-spinning videos, all of them set to “Harness Your Hopes.” Now three members of Pavement — Stephen Malkmus, Scott “Spiral Stairs” Kannberg, Mark Ibold, and Steve West — have posted their own Utah Fit Check videos, and their record label, Matador, put together a little compilation. Please enjoy all of that wholesome online goodness below.
@pavementofficial #utahfitcheck #harnessyourhopes #ootd #fitcheck #pavement ♬ Harness Your Hopes – B-side – Pavement
@spiralstairsofficial harness your hopes utah fit check @PAVEMENT OFFICIAL #mydadiscoolerthanyours #spiralstairs #pavement #harnessyourhopes ♬ Harness Your Hopes – B-side – Pavement
@pavementofficial #utahfitcheck #harnessyourhopes #ootd #fitcheck #pavement #westiecanspin #westiecandrum #westiecannotdrum #wheresbob #wheresmark #wheresrebecca ♬ Harness Your Hopes – B-side – Pavement
@matadorrecords Pavement have gone viral with “Harness Your Hopes” yet again, reaching the farthest expanses of the globe… including Utah #utahfitcheck #pavement #harnessyourhopes #ootd #fyp @PAVEMENT OFFICIAL @tictac tictoc ♬ Harness Your Hopes – B-side – Pavement
@pavementofficial #utahfitcheck #harnessyourhopes #ootd #fitcheck #pavement #iboldunleashed #internetibold #socks #feet #bass #bassman #sonicyouth #matadorrecords ♬ Harness Your Hopes – B-side – Pavement
It feels like other Pavement songs are ripe for this kind of viral trend. “We Dance”? “Conduit For Sale”? “Shady Lane”? The internet is so random.