Background
Pavement had attained a degree of success within the underground music scene with its 1989 debut EP Slay Tracks (1933-1969). While Malkmus was traveling to parts of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, Kannberg managed Slay Track's release on the band's self-owned label, Treble Kicker. Slay Tracks caught the attention of Dan Koretzky, an avid record collector working at Reckless Records in Chicago. Koretzky ordered 200 copies of the EP for the record store, and asked Kannberg to sign to his newly started independent label, Drag City. At the time the members of Pavement anticipated no further releases beyond Slay Tracks, and Kannberg initially expressed reluctance to sign to any label. Kannberg later said "I started talking to and in our conversations he said 'I'm starting this label. Do you want to do something for us?' I said, 'Well I don't know if we're even a band. Steve is off in Europe.' He said, "Well if you want to I'm up for it.'"
While Malkmus was still abroad, Kannberg moved in with a friend and his roommate Jason Fawkes in Sacramento, California. Fawkes and Kannberg formed a new band called Pa, with Fawkes on drums. Kannberg said, "I didn't know if Pavement was going to do anything so I just said, 'Let's start another band.'" The duo frequently jammed, and considered a future release on Drag City. Pa recorded a series of instrumental demos, including new songs "Two States", "Forklift", and "Collapse", at Young's Louder Than You Think studios during a trip to Stockton. After Kannberg and Fawkes had returned to Sacramento, Malkmus visited and the group decided to turn the Pa songs into a Pavement project. Malkmus wrote lyrics to "Forklift" and presented the band with "two or three other songs" he had previously written.
Read more about this topic: Demolition Plot J-7
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