Pavement "Quarantine The Past"

It’s interesting, this here Pavement best of. Quarantine The Past, as it is called, seems like an odd thing to release considering that Pavement fans probably already own all the albums that the tracks on this come from. I mean, why on earth wouldn’t you own a copy of Slanted & Enchanted or Crooked Rain Crooked Rain, right? Still, the great thing about this is that people actually will go out and buy it. It’s a phenomenon that I can’t explain apart from the fact that fans are getting pretty excited about this reunion tour.

Of course, it’s bad timing for the release of it in New Zealand considering that the band played the very first reunion show here last week and the hype over Pavement is pretty much dead and gone. Still, Pavement have 40-something shows left on the tour so why not cash in on an album that encompasses some of their best work? It is time to pay the rent, after all.

Quarantine The Past is 23 of Pavement’s best tracks remastered to sound just a little slicker than you remember them. The album draws on tracks from all five of the bands albums as well as the EP’s Perfect Sound Forever and Watery, Domestic. Also included is the band’s renowned 1989 cover of The Wedding Present’s Box Elder which was featured on the groups’ first 7″ Slay Tracks.

It was always going to be hard to pick the appropriate tracks to go on here (Spit On A Stranger is the only song included from Terror Twilight) but it’s a nice reminder of what Pavement are all about as well as being a perfect gateway for the younger generation to learn a thing or two about the band. If you haven’t seen it, the accompanying press release that came with Quarantine The Past is definitely worth a read, just as long as you don’t take it too seriously.