After the completion of Self's Subliminal Plastic Motives (1995) and The Half-Baked Serenade (1997), lead member Matt Mahaffey had a collection of songs scrapped from both albums.

It spread throughout the label and leaked online with positive feedback from fans,[4] leading multiple colleagues to encourage Mahaffey to put out the compilation.

[6] Feels Like Breakin' Shit widely varies in style through its tracklist, such as techno instrumentation on the opening song "Having Dinner With the Funk".

Laurent of Indiepoprock praised this alongside the compilation's quality, suggesting that the songs "Pumpkinhead" and "Dog You Are" would've fit on Subliminal Plastic Motives.

[2] The track "Dog You Are" was played during live shows beginning in 1996, stated by Mahaffey to be about a critic from Utah who negatively reviewed Subliminal Plastic Motives.