It was initially released in Canada on March 1, 1995[13] through his own label, Hardwood Records, in conjunction with Sonic Unyon.

The song "Bad as They Seem" was released as a single, and the music video received some play on MuchMusic and MTV's 120 Minutes.

The lyrics are from the point of view of a young twenty-something man in a hopeless situation: working a dead-end job ("where [he worked] at fourteen"), still living at his parents' home ("until [he's] at least forty-three"), infatuated with a 16-year-old "girl of [his] dreams", and possibly infatuated with the girl's mother, as well.

The hopeless and depressing nature of the song is reiterated with each verse, which states that "things are as bad as they seem".

[citation needed] Desser shared on the Toronto Mike'd podcast that the performance sections of the video were filmed at The Rivoli bar with the backroom concert space made to look like a bedroom.