I've been listening to two late 2005 releases a lot lately, so I'll share my thoughts.
Nice and Nicely Done - the Spinto Band These young fellows sound like if you put Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Pavement in a blender, set the controls to pulsate, and removed the pretentiousness. Occasionally, the lyrics are a bit immature, but that can be funny sometimes. They have essentially synthesized two divergent strains of indie rock into a very pleasant experience. Like I said, the lyrics can be a bit cutesy but they never miss a trick when it comes to the actual music.
The Loon - Tapes 'n Tapes Here you have another "it" band that has been said to reference Pavement. However, I find their particular brand of rock sauce to be more of the Modest Mouse-ian variety. Though the album definitely has a cohesive feel to it, at closer examination there are many different directions that are explored. All in all, I think they sound a lot like Wolf Parade minus the Bowie influences. The only Pavement qualities I can see are the opaque lyrics and musical experimentation, but not in the actual sound. At times acoustic driven, and at times a full on rockstravaganza, The Loon is a stellar listen throughout the record.
