The EP managed to generate buzz for Pavement in the UK after The Wedding Present's cover of the song "Box Elder" received some airplay from the famous radio disc jockey John Peel.

The release and relative success of Slay Tracks was significant to Pavement's subsequent signing to Drag City, and later to Matador Records.

"[8] He told Melody Maker, "Pavement was originally a pathetic effort by us to do something to escape the terminal boredom we were experiencing in Stockton.

"[15] After recording was complete, Kannberg was tasked with releasing the music himself, as Malkmus had departed on a trip to parts of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

[18] Slay Tracks found unexpected attention after The Wedding Present, an English band, covered "Box Elder" on their own 1990 EP, Brassneck.

[20] The cover version received radio airplay from influential English disc jockey John Peel, generating publicity for both the Wedding Present and Pavement.

[23] The band had not anticipated the EP's relative degree of success; Kannberg later said "[i]t was very surprising to find that people were into [Slay Tracks].

"[29] College Music Journal's 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 [sic] melodic balance, and whether that is in spite of or because of the sloppy, one-take feel is inconsequential.

Young produced the group's 1990 EP Demolition Plot J-7, but displayed hostility toward then-current drummer Jason Fawkes.

[30] Fawkes left Pavement in 1991 due to animosity with Malkmus, allowing Young to drum on their third EP, Perfect Sound Forever.

[31] Young drummed on all Pavement releases from then on until 1992's Watery, Domestic, after which he was fired for his increasingly erratic behavior and was replaced with Steve West.

Young's drumming on Slay Tracks was later recognized as an important turning point in Pavement's history, and was considered to be "the opportunity of a lifetime" by C. Harris-Nystrom of the News & Review.

[32] Dan Koretzky, founder of Drag City, ordered 200 copies of the EP for the Chicago Reckless Records store he worked for at the time.

[19] Kannberg remembered expressing reluctance to sign to any label, but Drag City producer and session musician Rian Murphy recalled that "We asked, they said yes.

"[19] Chris Lombardi and Gerard Cosloy of Matador Records also first heard of Pavement after Kannberg sent a copy of Slay Tracks to their zine, Conflict.

Westing has sold 63,000 copies,[35] and was praised by Robert Christgau and Stephen Thomas Erlewine for making songs previously found exclusively on vinyl available on compact disc.

[36][37] All of the songs from Slay Tracks were played live throughout Pavement's history,[38] with "Box Elder" particularly cited as an "old favorite" for fans at concerts.

[39] Live performances of "Box Elder" has also been included on the compilation reissues Slanted and Enchanted: Luxe & Reduxe and Wowee Zowee: Sordid Sentinels Edition, with the version on the latter beginning with a short jam session.

[40] In a 1999 retrospective of the band's career, Donna Freydkin of CNN.com called Slay Tracks "a quick underground favorite",[41] while John Hicks of the Planet Weekly wrote "Although Pavement was conceived as a studio-only project, the underground success of Slay Tracks ensured that it was only a matter of time before the group became a full-fledged performing entity.