The band was primarily active from 1998 to 2003, touring the U.S., Europe, and Japan, releasing three self-recorded albums, numerous singles and even recording a Peel Session in 2001.

Terrible Things Happen was released in 1998, and the album received glowing reviews in CMJ, The Big Takeover, and numerous indie pop zines, earning enough of a following to generate a tour of Japan in April 1999.

High praise followed in the New York Times, NME, Gear, and Alternative Press, and the band set out on lengthy tours supporting acts such as Sleater Kinney and Bratmobile.

In early 2001, the band set off on a three-week tour of Europe which was highlighted by an invitation to record a session for legendary British DJ John Peel.

And you'd say well, why are Aislers Set better than any of the others and I'd have to say, well I don't know they just sort of are..."[3][4] In 2002 the band was invited by Belle and Sebastian for a week-long tour of the East Coast, culminating in a show at New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom in front of over 3,000 people.

NME wrote "Sleighbells, Cuban trumpets, half-inched Smiths lyrics and chasms of lovely echo all add to an insomnia-like reverie that clings on long after its mere half-hour is up."

The band's music is denser than ever before, laden with sleigh bells, handclaps and horns piled atop the conventional guitars, drums, bass and keyboards – and all are drenched in cavernous reverb, providing the ambiance and intimacy of a gigantic, empty concert hall".