reflected on a past relationship. Following the band's
underground success with the release of debut EP ''
It's All About the Girls'' (1997), they soon caught the attention of
independent label Eulogy Recordings, and the quintet subsequently signed in order to increase distribution of their music. The album was recorded on a low budget with the members having to self-fund the sessions. Vocalist
Jordan Pundik recalls, "I was working in
Walgreens, I remember borrowing money off my sister to pay for the recording and everybody getting on me for not throwing in enough." Guitarist
Chad Gilbert also said that the album "wasn't recorded too well", but also praised its rawness by adding, "It sounds more real than a lot of other records". and even reference
Michael Jackson's "
Thriller". Gilbert said of the song's riff: "Cyrus [Bolooki] came to me and played me the guitar riff...That was the song that really won kids over." The original version of "Hit or Miss" contained a sample from the 1983 film
The Outsiders, specifically a dialogue between the characters Johnny Cade and
Ponyboy Curtis about a
Robert Frost poem. The sample directly references the band's debut album title,
Nothing Gold Can Stay. Following the
underground success of debut album
Nothing Gold Can Stay (1999),
Drive-Thru Records founder
Richard Reines had paid Eulogy Recordings $5,000 to license the album and sign the band. Drive-Thru had initially wanted to
re-release Nothing Gold Can Stay along with a newly recorded version of "Hit or Miss". Gilbert said of the process, "So we went into the studio with
Jerry Finn and recorded it with him. I don't like how it came out, at all. He was
such a cool guy, but we were like, 'nah, we don't want to use it'". and was promoted with a music video for "Hit or Miss". Having met him previously, the two parties discussed the desired sound the band were striving for on the record. The band re-recorded "Hit or Miss" again, as they felt the increase in recording budget would help the song. == Music videos ==