The group—singer Ami Shalev, guitarist Yonatan Gat, and drummer Ran Shimoni (later replaced by Haggai Fershtman)—released their debut EP in 2008 and toured mostly in the United States and Europe, including notable appearances at SXSW.

Dissatisfied with the state of the music scene in their hometown of Tel Aviv, the Israeli trio Monotonix formed in November 2005.

Eventually, finding themselves banned from most of the venues in Tel Aviv, the band decided to leave Israel and tour the United States and Europe.

In 2006 and 2007, Monotonix played over 300 shows around the world,[5] including appearances at festivals in the US and Europe, and a few tours with Silver Jews, for whom they opened in Israel and befriended.

In January 2010, while performing in Florida, singer Ami Shalev broke his leg, leading the band to cancel one subsequent show in Athens, Georgia.

The rest of the tour continued in equal manic energy with Shalev sometimes singing while atop venue bars on crutches.

[10] Between tours that year, the band rented a studio space in the center of Tel Aviv and wrote the 10 songs that would appear on their next album.