"offended", but his opinion of the cover and its significance later changed: "It was so cool that some band from the UK wanted to cover this obscure, horribly recorded song. At the time I probably never appreciated the full extent of how them covering the song helped Pavement, especially in the UK, but it really did, and I'll always be grateful to them for that." Shortly after its release, Slay Tracks became a collector's item. According to an April 1990 Drag City press release, copies were typically sold for $500–$600. Malkmus and Kannberg each kept 100 copies of the EP, and Malkmus said "I used to sell them for fifty dollars. When I needed money I'd go in and sell a couple to the store and they'd sell for a hundred dollars each. I rarely meet anyone who bought it when it originally came out." Malkmus also said that the pair "probably gave away about one-hundred to friends and bands we later toured with." The songs on Slay Tracks found airplay on several college radio stations, including WTJU at the University of Virginia and KALX at the University of California, Berkeley. The band had not anticipated the EP's relative degree of success; Kannberg later said was very surprising to find that people were into [Slay Tracks]." Reception Slay Tracks received generally positive reviews. Much of the initial critical reception to Slay Tracks was from zines to whom Kannberg had sent the EP. A review in the San Francisco-based zine Maximum RocknRoll said "Most of the tunes work by virtue of their eclecticism, freshness, and originality—this is a good one." The zine Conflict called the EP "absolutely perfect." Slay Tracks also received attention from mainstream publications. Robert Christgau of the Village Voice rated Slay Tracks an A−, and selected it as his fourth favorite EP of 1990. Spins review said: "a long stream of noise water is omitted by Pavement. ... What a party!" A reviewer for Option praised the band's lo-fi characteristics and attitude, calling the EP "loose and intentionally lo-fi," and saying "let's hope this Pavement stays cracked." College Music Journals review was also favorable, noting "You're Killing Me" and "She Believes" as highlights, and calling the EP a "deep, intoxicating breath of homemade music from people with tongues in their cheeks and hearts on their sleeves ... the twin engine feedback and fuzz hits dead center with naive