decided to regroup

In 1997, Sub Pop began pressing Enigk and Hoerner about the possibility of releasing a rarities record of Sunny Day Real Estate material, including the band’s early 7-inch releases and otherwise unreleased songs, such as the band’s unused contribution to The Crow: City of Angels soundtrack. Given that the album with only this material would have been rather short, the band decided to regroup to record a few new songs. While working on the songs, the quartet realized that whatever had driven them apart was behind them, and decided to continue working on new material, eventually signaling to Sub Pop that they wanted to release a full new album. Initially, Mendel intended to quit the Foo Fighters to rejoin Sunny Day full-time, but hedged for several months on actually quitting. Just before starting the recording sessions for the album, Mendel turned down the opportunity, noting that he did not want to leave what he had with the Foo Fighters for a potentially tenuous reunion.