Pavement/ Quarantine The Past: The Best Of Pavement

Pavement
Quarantine The Past: The Best Of Pavement
(Domino)

It’s been brought to our attention that Pavement (the band) is running the very real risk of becoming like pavement (that thing you spend the bulk of your day walking around on): bloody everywhere. This, of course, is no bad thing; the Romans figured that out years ago and look where it got them.
With adoration from a legion of fans already cemented and a comeback (of sorts) on the cards we, the people, have somewhat inevitably been furnished with a ‘Best Of’ to remind us of exactly why Pavement were and are so vital. Admittedly we shouldn’t need reminding, but it is rather nice to have a selection box of 23 Pavement tracks on one CD, isn’t it?
Quarantine The Past covers a decade of the band’s career, following them as they ploughed a straight line between the borders of grunge and college rock, emerging unscathed, relevant and with far more credibility than many of their contemporaries. As a showcase for how consistently good Pavement has been, you really couldn’t ask for anything more. Clear lines emerge as the LP progresses, highlighting where many other bands began to draw influences – but even they failed to surpass Malkmus et al.
We could go on, but the simple fact is that bands don’t stay around as long as Pavement by accident; they are one of the greats and, to quote one of Artrocker’s good friends, if you don’t like them you probably don’t deserve to have ears.