Slay Tracks (1933-1969)
Encyclopedia
Slay Tracks (also referred to as Slay Tracks) is the debut extended play
by the American indie rock
band Pavement
. Pavement, then consisting of founding members Stephen Malkmus
(guitar
, vocals) and Scott Kannberg
(guitar
), recorded Slay Tracks with producer
and future member Gary Young (drums
) during a four hour session. The EP was released as a 7" vinyl record on the band's own record label
Treble Kicker in 1989. The music in Slay Tracks is influenced by indie and punk rock
bands, including Swell Maps
and The Fall, and many of the lyrics are inspired by life in the band's hometown of Stockton, California
.
Although only 1000 copies of Slay Tracks were pressed, the EP became an underground hit. It was met with generally positive reviews from critics, though most of its initial reviews were from independently produced zine
s. The songs on Slay Tracks would later appear on the 1993 compilation Westing (By Musket & Sextant)
, reaching a wider audience than the EP's limited initial release. The release of Slay Tracks was significant to Pavement's signing to Drag City
, and later to Matador Records
.
by Stephen Malkmus
and Scott Kannberg
. Malkmus and Kannberg had previously performed together in the band Bag O' Bones. Pavement had its start playing at open mike
nights at clubs and bars. The songs the band played during this time were mostly covers
, although they also performed many original songs that would later be released on Slay Tracks. Malkmus recalls, "It was pretty reasonable to be able to make a single for $
1,000, so we decided to go for it. We didn't have any real plans because we weren't a real band." Two local studios existed in Stockton, the cheaper and less professionally-minded of which was Gary Young's Louder Than You Think Studio. The band decided to record at Young's studio due to their admiration of other local punk bands who had recorded there, including The Young Pioneers and The Authorities. Kannberg reportedly borrowed $800 from his father to record Slay Tracks.
Slay Tracks was recorded during a four hour session on January 17, 1989 at Young's studio. Kannberg, describing the studio and the recording process, said, "You go into his house and it's stuff everywhere, old dogs lying around, big pot
plants everywhere, and Gary tells us that he got all his equipment by selling pot! It was us going in and pretty much just laying down the songs with a glide guitar and a detuned guitar through a bass amp and then we'd play drums over the top." Young, though bewildered by the band's sound, contributed by playing drums. He recalled, "[Malkmus and Kannberg] come in and they play this weird guitar noise and it just sounds like noise, with no background. My drums were in there so I said, 'Should I drum?' and they said 'Okay.'" Kannberg said, "We did it really fast. We probably spent one day tracking and one day mixing it." The title of the EP had been decided prior to its recording, and the pseudonym
s S.M. and Spiral Stairs were used to credit Malkmus and Kannberg respectively.
, Swell Maps
, and The Fall. The songs on the EP drew comparisons to the likes of R.E.M.
, Pixies, and Sonic Youth
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
and Heather Phares of Allmusic, and also to Half Japanese
and The Velvet Underground
by reviewer Piero Scaruffi
. Radio static
and noise
are prominently used on the EP, techniques which are characteristic of the lo-fi
and noise pop
genres that Pavement are frequently associated with. According to Malkmus, "We decided to use static as the third instrument. .... It was pretty exciting to be so experimental." Young played drums on "Box Elder" and "Price Yeah!", and frequently improvised
. Malkmus played drums on "Maybe Maybe", while both Malkmus and Kannberg drummed on "She Believes".
"You're Killing Me", the longest song on the EP at three minutes and 20 seconds, is an example of the impact punk rock
had on Pavement. The song features fuzz effects, repetitive lyrics, and no percussion or drums. "Box Elder", an ironic
song about someone wanting to move to Box Elder, Montana
, was considered by Gerald Cosloy to be an example of Malkmus's "honest, direct, and simplistic" lyrical style, and features greater influence from pop music
than the rest of the EP. "Maybe Maybe" features distorted guitars
and indiscernible vocals, and "Price Yeah!" has a sound typical of hardcore punk
. The band's hometown of Stockton inspired the band's lyrics and sound. Malkmus stated that "There's something empty about Stockton. I wanted to convey that in our music." Malkmus told Melody Maker
in 1992 that "Pavement was originally a pathetic effort by us to do something to escape the terminal boredom we were experiencing in Stockton."
s. He recalled "I had no idea how to do it. I'd send off these little notes to my favorite labels like SST
and Twin Tone
and ask, 'How do I do this?'" A representative from SST recommended that Kannberg use Erica Records, a Los Angeles
7" manufacturer. Erica Records became the manufacturer of Slay Tracks; however, Kannberg was unhappy with the master
recording produced by the company: "It sounds like it sounds now—it's just a mess—but being poor and not really caring I said, 'Okay, that's cool, if it sounds like that–whatever.'" 1000 copies of Slay Tracks were pressed, and the first 50 included a green dinosaur stamp on the label. The EP was distributed on Kannberg's own Treble Kicker Records in the United States and England, although Malkmus came across a copy in a record store while visiting Austria
.
Slay Tracks found unexpected attention after the Leeds
, England-based band The Wedding Present
covered "Box Elder" on their own 1990 EP, Brassneck. The Wedding Present's bassist, Keith Gregory, had been introduced to Slay Tracks by future Pavement bassist Mark Ibold
while visiting New York City
. The Wedding Present cover is different from the original in that the line "that I had to get the fuck out of this town" was changed to "that I had to get right out of this town". The "Box Elder" cover received radio airplay from influential English disc jockey
John Peel
, which generated publicity for both The Wedding Present and Pavement. Neither member of Pavement was aware of the cover until Kannberg was informed of it. Kannberg remembered "I was kind of mad. I had no idea that people could do that, so I was all offended." However, 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 University of Virginia
's WTJU
and University of California, Berkeley
's KALX
. Kannberg commented on the EP's unanticipated popularity, saying "It was very surprising to find that people were into [Slay Tracks]."
-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. Spin
' s 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 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 melodic balance, and whether that is in spite of or because of the sloppy, one-take feel is inconsequential."
, but displayed hostility toward then-current drummer Jason Fawkes. Fawkes left Pavement in 1991 due to animosity with Malkmus, allowing Young to drum on their third EP, Perfect Sound Forever
. 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.
Dan Koretzky, founder of Drag City
, ordered 200 copies of the EP for the Chicago
Reckless Records store he worked for at the time. Koretzky asked Kannberg if he would sign to Drag City during the same phone call that he ordered the EP. 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. Lives didn't seem to be on the line." Chris Lombardi and Gerald Cosloy of Matador Records
also first heard of Pavement after Kannberg sent a copy of Slay Tracks to their zine, Conflict. Matador signed Pavement in 1992 for the release of their debut studio album, Slanted and Enchanted
.
The songs on Slay Tracks are all included on the 1993 compilation Westing (By Musket & Sextant)
, along with several of Pavement's other early material. Westing has sold 63,000 copies, and was praised by Robert Christgau and Stephen Thomas Erlewine for making songs previously found exclusively on vinyl available on compact disc
. All of the songs from Slay Tracks were played live throughout Pavement's history, with "Box Elder" particularly cited as an "old favorite" for fans at concerts. 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
. In a 1999 retrospective of the band's career, Donna Freydkin of CNN.com called Slay Tracks "a quick underground favorite", 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."
.
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
by the American indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band 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...
. Pavement, then consisting of founding members Stephen Malkmus
Stephen Malkmus
Stephen Joseph Malkmus is an indie rock musician and icon, and a member of the band Pavement. He currently performs with Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks.-Early years:...
(guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, vocals) and Scott Kannberg
Scott Kannberg
Scott "Spiral Stairs" Kannberg is a musician best known for being a founding member of the indie-rock band Pavement.-Career:...
(guitar
Lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
), recorded Slay Tracks with producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
and future member Gary Young (drums
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
) during a four hour session. The EP was released as a 7" vinyl record on the band's own record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
Treble Kicker in 1989. The music in Slay Tracks is influenced by indie and punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
bands, including Swell Maps
Swell Maps
Swell Maps were an experimental English rock group of the 1970s from Birmingham that foreshadowed the birth of post-punk.Influenced by the disparate likes of T.Rex and the German progressive outfit, Can, they created a new soundscape that would be heavily mined by others in the post-punk era...
and The Fall, and many of the lyrics are inspired by life in the band's hometown of Stockton, California
Stockton, California
Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...
.
Although only 1000 copies of Slay Tracks were pressed, the EP became an underground hit. It was met with generally positive reviews from critics, though most of its initial reviews were from independently produced zine
Zine
A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....
s. The songs on Slay Tracks would later appear on the 1993 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...
, reaching a wider audience than the EP's limited initial release. The release of Slay Tracks was significant to Pavement's signing to 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...
, and later to Matador Records
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...
.
Background and recording
Pavement was formed in 1989 in Stockton, CaliforniaStockton, California
Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...
by Stephen Malkmus
Stephen Malkmus
Stephen Joseph Malkmus is an indie rock musician and icon, and a member of the band Pavement. He currently performs with Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks.-Early years:...
and Scott Kannberg
Scott Kannberg
Scott "Spiral Stairs" Kannberg is a musician best known for being a founding member of the indie-rock band Pavement.-Career:...
. Malkmus and Kannberg had previously performed together in the band Bag O' Bones. Pavement had its start playing at open mike
Open mike
An open mike or open mic is a live show where audience members may perform at the microphone. Usually, the performers sign up in advance for a time slot with the host or master of ceremonies. These events can be focused on poetry and the spoken word, music, comedy, and the open format of open...
nights at clubs and bars. The songs the band played during this time were mostly covers
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
, although they also performed many original songs that would later be released on Slay Tracks. Malkmus recalls, "It was pretty reasonable to be able to make a single for $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
1,000, so we decided to go for it. We didn't have any real plans because we weren't a real band." Two local studios existed in Stockton, the cheaper and less professionally-minded of which was Gary Young's Louder Than You Think Studio. The band decided to record at Young's studio due to their admiration of other local punk bands who had recorded there, including The Young Pioneers and The Authorities. Kannberg reportedly borrowed $800 from his father to record Slay Tracks.
Slay Tracks was recorded during a four hour session on January 17, 1989 at Young's studio. Kannberg, describing the studio and the recording process, said, "You go into his house and it's stuff everywhere, old dogs lying around, big pot
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
plants everywhere, and Gary tells us that he got all his equipment by selling pot! It was us going in and pretty much just laying down the songs with a glide guitar and a detuned guitar through a bass amp and then we'd play drums over the top." Young, though bewildered by the band's sound, contributed by playing drums. He recalled, "[Malkmus and Kannberg] come in and they play this weird guitar noise and it just sounds like noise, with no background. My drums were in there so I said, 'Should I drum?' and they said 'Okay.'" Kannberg said, "We did it really fast. We probably spent one day tracking and one day mixing it." The title of the EP had been decided prior to its recording, and the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
s S.M. and Spiral Stairs were used to credit Malkmus and Kannberg respectively.
Music
The music on Slay Tracks was written entirely by Malkmus, and he stated his influences on the record included ChromeChrome (band)
Chrome was an experimental rock group founded in San Francisco, California in 1976.Chrome took part of their inspiration for their rough and sometimes chaotic music from proto punk pioneers like The Stooges. The sound of the group was often coarse and featured heavy elements of feedback and...
, Swell Maps
Swell Maps
Swell Maps were an experimental English rock group of the 1970s from Birmingham that foreshadowed the birth of post-punk.Influenced by the disparate likes of T.Rex and the German progressive outfit, Can, they created a new soundscape that would be heavily mined by others in the post-punk era...
, and The Fall. The songs on the EP drew comparisons to the likes of R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
, Pixies, and Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
and Heather Phares of Allmusic, and also to Half Japanese
Half Japanese
Half Japanese is a punk rock band formed by brothers Jad and David Fair in their Coldwater, Michigan bedroom around 1975. Their original instrumentation included a small drum set, which they took turns playing; vocals; and an out of tune guitar...
and The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...
by reviewer Piero Scaruffi
Piero Scaruffi
Piero Scaruffi received a degree in Mathematics in 1982 from University of Turin, where he did work on the General Theory of Relativity. For a number of years he was the head of the Artificial Intelligence Center at Olivetti, based in Cupertino, California. He has been a visiting scholar at...
. Radio static
Noise (radio)
In radio reception, noise is the superposition of white noise and other disturbing influences on the signal, caused either by thermal noise and other electronic noise from receiver input circuits or by interference from radiated electromagnetic noise picked up by the receiver's antenna...
and noise
Noise
In common use, the word noise means any unwanted sound. In both analog and digital electronics, noise is random unwanted perturbation to a wanted signal; it is called noise as a generalisation of the acoustic noise heard when listening to a weak radio transmission with significant electrical noise...
are prominently used on the EP, techniques which are characteristic of the lo-fi
Lo-fi music
Lo-fi is lower quality of sound recordings than the usual standard for music. The qualities of lo-fi are usually achieved by either degrading the quality of the recorded audio, or using certain equipment. Recent uses of the phrase have led to it becoming a genre, although it still remains as an...
and noise pop
Noise pop
Noise pop is a subgenre of alternative rock developed in the mid 1980s in the UK and US, that mixes atonal noise or feedback, or both, with the melodic instrumentation and production elements more often found in pop music, making it more melodic and angst-free than noise rock.-History:Noise pop has...
genres that Pavement are frequently associated with. According to Malkmus, "We decided to use static as the third instrument. .... It was pretty exciting to be so experimental." Young played drums on "Box Elder" and "Price Yeah!", and frequently improvised
Musical improvisation
Musical improvisation is the creative activity of immediate musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous response to other musicians...
. Malkmus played drums on "Maybe Maybe", while both Malkmus and Kannberg drummed on "She Believes".
"You're Killing Me", the longest song on the EP at three minutes and 20 seconds, is an example of the impact punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
had on Pavement. The song features fuzz effects, repetitive lyrics, and no percussion or drums. "Box Elder", an ironic
Irony
Irony is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions...
song about someone wanting to move to Box Elder, Montana
Box Elder, Montana
Box Elder is a census-designated place in Chouteau and Hill counties in the U.S. state of Montana. The population was 794 at the 2000 census...
, was considered by Gerald Cosloy to be an example of Malkmus's "honest, direct, and simplistic" lyrical style, and features greater influence from pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
than the rest of the EP. "Maybe Maybe" features distorted guitars
Distortion (guitar)
Distortion effects create "warm", "dirty" and "fuzzy" sounds by compressing the peaks of a musical instrument's sound wave and adding overtones. The three principal types of distortion effects are overdrive, distortion and fuzz. Distortion effects are sometimes called “gain” effects, as distorted...
and indiscernible vocals, and "Price Yeah!" has a sound typical of hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
. The band's hometown of Stockton inspired the band's lyrics and sound. Malkmus stated that "There's something empty about Stockton. I wanted to convey that in our music." Malkmus told Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
in 1992 that "Pavement was originally a pathetic effort by us to do something to escape the terminal boredom we were experiencing in Stockton."
Release
After recording was completed Kannberg was tasked with releasing the music himself, as Malkmus had left on a trip to parts of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Kannberg designed the cover of the EP and sent copies to various independent labels, distributors, and zineZine
A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....
s. He recalled "I had no idea how to do it. I'd send off these little notes to my favorite labels like SST
SST Records
SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was initially called Solid State Transmitters through which Ginn sold electronics equipment...
and Twin Tone
Twin/Tone Records
Twin/Tone Records was a record label based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that operated from 1977 until 1994 and helped several local groups receive national attention. The label was born from the Minneapolis punk rock music scene, which included venues like Jay's Longhorn Bar. The label was begun by...
and ask, 'How do I do this?'" A representative from SST recommended that Kannberg use Erica Records, a Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
7" manufacturer. Erica Records became the manufacturer of Slay Tracks; however, Kannberg was unhappy with the master
Audio mastering
Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
recording produced by the company: "It sounds like it sounds now—it's just a mess—but being poor and not really caring I said, 'Okay, that's cool, if it sounds like that–whatever.'" 1000 copies of Slay Tracks were pressed, and the first 50 included a green dinosaur stamp on the label. The EP was distributed on Kannberg's own Treble Kicker Records in the United States and England, although Malkmus came across a copy in a record store while visiting Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
.
Slay Tracks found unexpected attention after the Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
, England-based band The Wedding Present
The Wedding Present
The Wedding Present are a British indie rock group based in Leeds, England, formed in 1985 from the ashes of the Lost Pandas. The band's music has evolved from fast-paced indie rock in the vein of their most obvious influences The Fall, Buzzcocks and Gang of Four to more varied forms...
covered "Box Elder" on their own 1990 EP, Brassneck. The Wedding Present's bassist, Keith Gregory, had been introduced to Slay Tracks by future Pavement bassist Mark Ibold
Mark Ibold
Mark Ibold is a New York-based bass guitarist, member of the indie band Pavement from 1992 to 1999, and again as of their 2010 reunion. He is also currently in the alternative rock band Sonic Youth....
while visiting New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The Wedding Present cover is different from the original in that the line "that I had to get the fuck out of this town" was changed to "that I had to get right out of this town". The "Box Elder" cover received radio airplay from influential English disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
, which generated publicity for both The Wedding Present and Pavement. Neither member of Pavement was aware of the cover until Kannberg was informed of it. Kannberg remembered "I was kind of mad. I had no idea that people could do that, so I was all offended." However, 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
Record collecting
Record collecting is the hobby of collecting music. Although the main focus is on vinyl records, all formats of recorded music are collected.-History:Record collecting has been around probably nearly as long as recorded sound...
item. According to an April 1990 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...
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 University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
's WTJU
WTJU
WTJU is a Variety formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Charlottesville, Virginia, serving Charlottesville, Virginia and Albemarle County, Virginia, with a broadcast range of about 50 miles, as well as webcasting over the internet. WTJU is owned and operated by the University of Virginia...
and University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
's KALX
KALX
KALX is a freeform FM radio station that broadcasts from the University of California, Berkeley in Berkeley, California. KALX, a community- and student-run radio station licensed to the University of California, Berkeley, broadcasts in stereo with 500 watts of power...
. Kannberg commented on the EP's unanticipated popularity, saying "It 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, CaliforniaSan Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
-based zine Maximum RocknRoll
Maximum RocknRoll
Maximum rocknroll is a widely distributed, monthly not-for-profit fanzine based in San Francisco, USA. It features interviews, columns, and reviews from international contributors...
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
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
of the Village Voice rated Slay Tracks an A-, and selected it as his fourth favorite EP of 1990. Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
Option (music magazine)
Option was a music magazine based in Los Angeles, California.-History:Originally called OPtion, it, along with Sound Choice, were the dual successors to the earlier music magazine OP, published by John Foster and the Lost Music Network and known for its diverse scope and the role it played in...
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 Journal
College Music Journal
College Music Journal, commonly known as CMJ, is a music events/publishing company which hosts an annual festival in New York City, the CMJ Music Marathon, as well as a weekly magazine of and for the music industry and college radio stations in the United States and Canada. It publishes top 30...
Legacy
Young's drum performance on Slay Tracks eventually lead to his joining of Pavement as a full-time member. Young produced the group's 1990 EP Demolition Plot J-7Demolition Plot J-7
Demolition Plot J-7 is the second extended play by American indie rock band Pavement, released in 1990. The EP was the band's first release on Chicago independent label Drag City, and its first release that was not self-issued...
, but displayed hostility toward then-current drummer Jason Fawkes. Fawkes left Pavement in 1991 due to animosity with Malkmus, allowing Young to drum on their third EP, Perfect Sound Forever
Perfect Sound Forever (EP)
Perfect Sound Forever is Pavement's third release, a 10" EP on Chicago's Drag City recording label. The songs on this record would later be made available on the Drag City compilation Westing ....
. Young drummed on all Pavement releases from then on until 1992's Watery, Domestic
Watery, Domestic
Watery, Domestic is an EP by Pavement.The record marked the recording debuts of both Bob Nastanovich and Mark Ibold on percussion and bass respectively - although both had been touring members for some time, the debut album, Slanted and Enchanted and the preceding EPs had been recorded by a trio of...
, after which he was fired for his increasingly erratic behavior and was replaced with Steve West
Steve West (pavement)
Steve West replaced original drummer Gary Young in the critically acclaimed indie rock band Pavement. He is a graduate of Trinity High School in Richmond, VA. He now sings in the band Marble Valley, which released their fourth album, "Slash & Laugh," on in 2008.-References:...
. 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.
Dan Koretzky, founder of 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...
, ordered 200 copies of the EP for the Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
Reckless Records store he worked for at the time. Koretzky asked Kannberg if he would sign to Drag City during the same phone call that he ordered the EP. Kannberg remembered expressing reluctance to sign to any label, but Drag City producer and session musician Rian Murphy
Rian Murphy
Rian Murphy is a drummer and producer and for the Chicago record label Drag City, and also acts as the company's sales director.He has worked with Appendix Out, Palace Music, Smog, Royal Trux, the Silver Jews and Edith Frost. In 2000, Murphy released the EP All Most Heaven with Will Oldham.Murphy...
recalled that "We asked, they said yes. Lives didn't seem to be on the line." Chris Lombardi and Gerald Cosloy of Matador Records
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...
also first heard of Pavement after Kannberg sent a copy of Slay Tracks to their zine, Conflict. Matador signed Pavement in 1992 for the release of their debut studio 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 songs on Slay Tracks are all included on the 1993 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...
, along with several of Pavement's other early material. Westing has sold 63,000 copies, and was praised by Robert Christgau and Stephen Thomas Erlewine for making songs previously found exclusively on vinyl available on compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
. All of the songs from Slay Tracks were played live throughout Pavement's history, with "Box Elder" particularly cited as an "old favorite" for fans at concerts. Live performances of "Box Elder" has also been included on the compilation reissues Slanted and Enchanted: Luxe & Reduxe
Slanted and Enchanted: Luxe & Reduxe
Slanted and Enchanted: Luxe & Reduxe is a double album by Pavement featuring a remastered version of the band's first studio album Slanted and Enchanted, as well as outtakes & live tracks from the same era as the original release...
and Wowee Zowee: Sordid Sentinels Edition
Wowee Zowee: Sordid Sentinels Edition
Wowee Zowee: Sordid Sentinels Edition is a two CD compilation album by Pavement released on November 7, 2006. It contains the band's third album, Wowee Zowee in its entirety, as well as 32 of the band's other songs from that era, 18 of which were previously unreleased.Matador Records offered extra...
, with the version on the latter beginning with a short jam session
Jam session
Jam sessions are often used by musicians to develop new material, find suitable arrangements, or simply as a social gathering and communal practice session. Jam sessions may be based upon existing songs or forms, may be loosely based on an agreed chord progression or chart suggested by one...
. In a 1999 retrospective of the band's career, Donna Freydkin of CNN.com called Slay Tracks "a quick underground favorite", 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."
Track listing
All tracks were written by Stephen MalkmusStephen Malkmus
Stephen Joseph Malkmus is an indie rock musician and icon, and a member of the band Pavement. He currently performs with Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks.-Early years:...
.
- "You're Killing Me" – 3:20
- "Box Elder" – 2:26
- "Maybe Maybe" – 2:14
- "She Believes" – 3:02
- "Price Yeah!" – 3:00