Pavement - Quarantine The Past (Domino) 08/03/10

Mention the name Pavement at an event like ATP and you’re likely to get 6,000 people salivating in unison whilst dropping to the floor, knee-weak in adoration. Indeed the love for the Californian five-piece has grown considerably in their posthumous state more so than it ever was while they were active and releasing records, something evidently demonstrated by their consistently poor showing in terms of record sales and ultimately, chart positions. However, as with other legendary artists of by-gone eras (see also My Bloody Valentine, The Smiths, Pixies, to name but three) there’s a genuine feeling of under-appreciation until after they’ve stopped making records, or in the case of the middle outfit, disappeared for good.

Interest in the group has been re-kindled in no small way by their invitation to curate May’s ATP event, and with several more re-union shows announced into the bargain, this “Best Of…” compilation has been released to coincide and without reverting to abject cynicism, generate a few more bucks into messrs Malkmus and co.’s pension funds at the same time.

With a band like Pavement, picking out twenty-three songs for a one off collection like ‘Quarantine The Past’ is a difficult enough job in itself, and the fact many people’s personal favourites (including mine: ‘Loretta’s Scars’ and ‘My First Mine’) are absent will no doubt be as much a cause for debate as to what actually made it onto this release. The absence of later singles such as ‘Rattled By The Rush’, ‘Carrot Rope’ and ‘Major Leagues’ is also notable, particularly bearing in mind the band’s final album, Terror Twilight’, is only represented here by one song, the largely underwhelming ‘Spit On A Stranger’.

Compare that with the fact material from the era of the band’s first two long players, ‘Slanted & Enchanted’ and ‘Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain’ accommodate for over half of this compilation suggests even the band themselves regard their earlier years as being the pinnacle of their ten-year career. Indeed, the opening line of the record, “Go back to your gold sounds…” proves quite apt in this context, and when comparing the likes of ‘Gold Soundz’, ‘Trigger Cut’, ‘Frontwards’, Cut Your Hair’ and ‘Range Life’ with the later material that ultimately signalled a band at both their creative and interpersonal nadir it pales considerably.

Nevertheless, when all’s said and done, ‘Quarantine The Past’ is a fitting document that celebrates arguably the most influential musical ensemble of the lo-fi phenomenon, and even though the individual parts that make up Pavement haven’t exactly gone away – Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Spiral Stairs, Preston School Of Industry and Marble Valley to name but four of their marginally successful side projects – there can be no doubting that the sum of the whole is infinitely greater.