"Summer Babe" is a 1992 song

Song

In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...

 by Pavement

Pavement (band)

Pavement is an American alternative rock band that formed in Stockton, California in 1989. In their career, they achieved a significant cult following, and they were called the best band of the 1990s by prominent music critics Robert Christgau and Stephen Thomas Erlewine...

. It was the last single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 released on Chicago's Drag City

Drag City (record label)

Drag City is a Chicago-based independent record label. It was established with a Royal Trux release in 1990 in Chicago, Illinois by Dan Koretzky and Dan Osborn.Drag City specializes in experimental indie rock acts...

 label before the band moved to the New York-based Matador

Matador Records

Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...

 label. The songs on this single would later be included on the Drag City compilation Westing (By Musket & Sextant)

Westing (By Musket & Sextant)

Westing is a compilation of the early EPs and singles by the band Pavement. It features all the tracks from their first three EPs, Slay Tracks , Demolition Plot J-7, and Perfect Sound Forever, as well as the single mix of "Summer Babe," its B-sides, and two compilation tracks.-Track listing:All...

, and on Matador's Slanted & Enchanted: Luxe & Reduxe. The single was listed (and described as an EP) in a mid-90s Matador Records mail-order catalog as Exact Wording of Threat, a reference to the text featured in the single's cover art. A slightly different mix of "Summer Babe," known as "Summer Babe (Winter Version)," became the first track on the band's debut album Slanted and Enchanted

Slanted and Enchanted

Slanted and Enchanted is the debut studio album by American indie rock band Pavement, released in April 1992 on Matador Records. The album was distributed to critics as early as 1991, months before its official release; the original distribution did not feature the entire band as several members...

. The song was also ranked by Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

magazine as #286 in their list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

Track listing

1. "Summer Babe"
2. "Mercy Snack (The Laundromat)"
3. "Baptist Blacktick"