She recruited new musicians and naming the group the Amps, recorded Pacer at several studios in the US and Ireland, with different engineers, including Steve Albini, Bryce Goggin, and John Agnello.

[3] As an attempt to distract her sister from her drug problems, Deal recruited Kelley to play on three songs at this initial recording session.

[3][6] Kelley's involvement changed Deal's mind about playing all the instruments herself, and she began to conceptualize the album as a band project.

[9] The track "Tipp City" was used from the original session at Easley-McCain Studios,[3][10] recorded in February 1995 and engineered by Doug Easley and Davis McCain.

[14] Other recording sessions, whose various engineers included Bryce Goggin and John Agnello, took place at studios in Long Island and Woodstock, New York, as well as Dayton, Los Angeles, and Dublin, Ireland.

[21] "Tipp City" was released as the album's single and included an alternate version of "Empty Glasses", as well as a cover of the Tasties' "Just Like a Briar".

Reviewing for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine describes the album as "exciting, gut-level rock & roll".

[15] In Spin magazine, reviewer Joy Press writes that the album includes "a half-dozen gems" but that its overall "foggy sound" and "indecipherable lyrics" prevent the listener from fully embracing the work.

[28] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau considers the album's songs to be "definitely slight" and "uneven" but praises the vocals, stating that "speedy or dreamy, Kim Deal sounds so sane, so unpretentious, so goddamn nice that you want to take her home and give her a shampoo".

[30] In The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock, critic Ira Robbins writes that "Other than the fine title track and a few others, the performances are forced and lackluster; the production varies between flat and colorless.

[32] In the first ever Pitchfork review,[33] Ryan Schreiber found the album's lo-fi sound initially off-putting but praised the lyrics and "awesome rock".

[37] On Gigantic: A Tribute to Kim Deal, released on American Laundromat Records, the German Art Students covered "Bragging Party" and Tara King Theory, "Tipp City".

[39] The Breeders themselves released a new version of "Full on Idle" on Title TK (2002)[40] and over the years have sometimes performed Amps' songs at their concerts.