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 guide 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 pseudonyms S.M. and Spiral Stairs were used to credit Malkmus and Kannberg respectively. Composition and lyrics Most of the music on Slay Tracks was written by Malkmus, but the music to "Box Elder" was written by Kannberg. Malkmus stated his influences on the record included Chrome, 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 (which, like all of the World Wide Web, did not exist when the EP was released). 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 Gerard Cosloy to be an example of Malkmus's "honest, direct, and simplistic"