First show at Rock n’ Java

Band members Alexander DeLeon and Cash Colligan first began playing music together at Liberty High School and recorded demos which they put up on their MySpace page. The two were coming up with band names and came up with The Strip, The Casino and The Cab. They decided to choose the latter as it felt “the least dumb.” They recruited guitarist Paul Garcia and drummer Alex Johnson. They played their first show at the Rock n’ Java in December 2005. After playing their first show, the group would spend 10 to 20 hours practicing each week, writing songs and planning shows. The band also signed to local label Olympus Records in January 2006, but released no material. They released two EPs in 2006, Drunk Love and Glitz and Glamour . When they were writing the latter, DeLeon had only been singing for a few weeks after Colligan suggested he sing for the band. After giving a demo to Jon Walker and Spencer Smith of Panic! at the Disco who was impressed with the band, he helped them sign to Decaydance Records and Fueled by Ramen in May 2007. Prior, DeLeon attended Panic! at the Disco’s first concert back in August 2005, where he was invited to sing the last chorus to their song “Time to Dance”. They had sent them the demos at a Cobra Starship / Boys Like Girls / Cartel show. The group posted a demo of “I’ll Run” to their MySpace and announced that a full-length studio album would be released later in the year. Shortly after this, the band’s members graduated from high school. During this time they decided added Alex T. Marshall to the group and replaced Garcia with Ian Crawford , who moved from Washington to join the band.