Following the demise of Quicksand, frontman Walter Schreifels formed Rival Schools at the recommendation of his label Island Records.

The band consisted of Schreifels, and hardcore punk veterans Sam Siegler on drums, Cache Tolman on bass; guitarist Ian Love joined months later.

[16] Pedals has been described as an emo, pop rock[17] and post-hardcore release,[6] utilizing less distortion and a lack of heavy sound that was prevalent on United by Fate.

[17] The orchestral ballad "Racing to Red Lights"[6] occasionally had sparse, slower instrumentation;[22] the intro to it was reminiscent of the Stratford 4's The Revolt Against Tired Noises (2002).

[14] The main guitar riff and verse music evolved from those sessions, while "Big Waves" retained its structure and arrangement.

[16] "Small Doses", a Smiths-indebted track,[7] featured Schreifels crooning and shared a thematic similarity with "Institutionalized" by Suicidal Tendencies.

[42] A promotional CD featured "Racing to Red Lights", a Daryl Palumbo (of Glassjaw) remix of "Choose Your Adventure", and acoustic versions of "Wring It Out" and "Small Doses".

AllMusic reviewer Gregory Heaney wrote that "time away has certainly been a blessing" for Rival Schools as the album "paints a picture of a band that has done a lot of growing up over the last ten years, replacing the fury and uncertainty of its benchmark debut with a slicker, self-assured sound".

[21] NME writer Hardeep Phull said the band returned from their break to "demonstrate why they’re such luminaries for today’s post-hardcore hordes", adding that Schreifels "has retained his ear for a good tune".

[53] PopMatters contributor Ian Mathers felt that it "fully justifies that decade I’ve spent hoping for it, even if it’s different enough from United By Fate", mentioning that it was "both more compact and expansive than the debut, with arguably better melodies".

[20] Doug Brod of Spin wrote that while it did not have the "brash, anthemic crunch" of United by Fate, it "does display the same knack for twisty, melodic tunes girded by knotty guitars and Schreifels’ likably straining vocals".

[51] Katia Ganfield of The Line of Best Fit thought Schreifels "sounds exactly the same as he did almost ten years ago, grungy growls that grow into something endearing when reaching those high notes".

[56] Drowned in Sound writer Thom Gibbs, meanwhile, said there was "something jarring about Schreifels' vocal phrasing which seems to leave him permanently dawdling behind the rhythm of the band".

Club writer Jason Heller noted that while it followed the emo sound of United by Fate but "doesn’t squeeze as much from the formula" for Pedals.

[17] Gibbs wrote that it had "more instrumental variety" than United by Fate, "which helps stave off monotony, but the band have unsurprisingly lost the urgency which one made them alluring".

[18] The Skinny writer Darren Carle wrote that the band's break had no impact on pushing their "sound out of the pre-packaged, hardcore-stepping stone that United By Fate was.

In fact, Pedals sounds more neutered, with an extra layer of plastic packaging that stops your fingers from really feeling what’s underneath the safe production".