Q and Not U

After Borlik's departure following the release of their first album, the band went on to record two more critically acclaimed LPs as a three-piece, exploring aspects of dance-punk and other disparate musical styles.

John Davis, Harris Klahr, Christopher Richards, and Matt Borlik formed Q and Not U in the summer of 1998 and began playing shows in the D.C. area later that November.

It was marked by strongly rhythmic compositions with dissonant guitar and bass, though each song was built around unique melodies and danceable beats that cut through and rode on top of the swells of noise.

[2] Following extensive touring in 2000 and 2001 with bands like Engine Down, Milemarker, Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, and El Guapo, Borlik was dismissed in November 2001.

The album also expanded upon the small patches of hushed tapping cultivated on No Kill... ("We Heart Our Hive") into fully grown bodies of delicate rhythm ("Soft Pyramids").