Initially conceived as a recording project, the band at first avoided press or live performances, while attracting considerable underground attention with their early releases.

Gradually evolving into a more polished band, Pavement recorded five full-length albums and ten EPs over the course of their decade-long career, though they disbanded with some acrimony in 1999 as the members moved on to other projects.

[4] Though only briefly attracting mainstream attention with the single "Cut Your Hair" in 1994, Pavement was a successful indie rock band.

[1][7] Pavement officially formed in Stockton, California, in January 1989 as a studio project of guitarists and vocalists Stephen Malkmus and Scott Kannberg, known originally only as "S.M."

[19][20][21] British indie rock band the Wedding Present covered the Slay Tracks song "Box Elder" after their bassist discovered the album during a trip to the United States.

Though the percussive influence of the Fall was still pervasive, as was that of English post-punk band Swell Maps, many of the songs also exhibited a strong sense of melody.

Since its release Slanted and Enchanted has appeared on many critics' best-of lists and is frequently cited as being among the most influential indie rock albums of the 1990s.

Also that year, the band contributed to the AIDS-Benefit Album No Alternative produced by the Red Hot Organization with their song "Unseen Power of the Picket Fence".

Additionally, the video aired on "Career Day", a season five episode of Beavis and Butt-head, who termed it "buttwipe music" and also wanted the band to "try harder."

[30] The lyrics from another single from the album, "Range Life", criticized alternative rock stars the Smashing Pumpkins and the Stone Temple Pilots.

Malkmus has insisted over the years that the line is meant to be light-hearted and is sung from the point of view of the aging hippie character in the song.

In response, Smashing Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan threatened to drop his band from their slot headlining the 1994 Lollapalooza Festival if Pavement was allowed to play.

[32][33] The next album, Wowee Zowee, recorded in Memphis and released April 11, 1995, covered a wide range of styles including punk, country and balladry across its 18 tracks, which often avoided conventional song structures.

"[34] During the tour for the album, Nastanovich stated on the Slow Century DVD, the band would often not work out a setlist before shows, opting for drug and alcohol fueled jams over hit singles.

Malkmus said on the Slow Century DVD that the album was an attempt to show audiences that Pavement had more mainstream and classic rock influences than it had previously portrayed.

Fan favorite "For Sale: The Preston School of Industry" and one other song penned by Kannberg were briefly worked on during the sessions, but abandoned.

[citation needed] Pavement embarked on a six-month world tour for Terror Twilight, during which time relationships within the group frayed, especially between Malkmus and the other members.

[40] During the final concert of the tour, at Brixton Academy in London on November 20, 1999,[41] Malkmus had a pair of handcuffs attached to his microphone stand and told the audience: "These symbolize what it's like being in a band all these years.

[58] After concluding their proper US tour at the Hollywood Bowl on September 30, the band played the following night in Las Vegas at the Palms Casino as a part of the Matador At 21 festival.

Kannberg joined Malkmus and the Jicks onstage at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles on March 28, 2014, for an encore performance of the Pavement song "Stereo".

[68] As a prelude to their tour, Pavement worked with the bakery Rudy's Strudel and the Current Year Records and Tapes in Parma, Ohio, to come up with five flavors of pierogi based on their albums.

[72] The band began their North American tour at the Balboa Theater on September 7, 2022, followed by concerts across 12 US states and Canada, ending at Austin City Limits, Texas on October 11.

While in Australia, the band appeared at the Mona Foma festival in Hobart alongside Bikini Kill, Angel Olsen and Jockstrap.

[78] The band performed their final show of the year at Smale Park in Cincinnati at the National's Homecoming festival on September 16, 2023.

Heather Phares of AllMusic said, "Standing detached from the tumult of grunge, Pavement seemed laconic, sometimes lazy, as they threaded their love of underground American rock and British post-punk, dressing their winding melodies with squalls of feedback and shambolic rhythms."

Malkmus rarely wrote ballads or love songs and only a small portion of their discography contained personal reflections or similar lyrical themes, and most were satirical or laced with sarcasm.

in the song "Unseen Power of The Picket Fence" featured on the compilation No Alternative and covered "Camera" which appeared as a B-side on the single of "Cut Your Hair".

In 2002, Slow Century, a documentary by Lance Bangs coupled with all of the band's music videos, was released as a 2 DVD set.

Included was extensive footage, both professionally shot and taped by fans on camcorders, from the band's earliest shows in 1989 forward.

Also on the DVD is a hidden easter egg clip from the same show, wherein Malkmus talks about how the handcuffs attached to his microphone stand "represent what it's like being in a band all these years."