Save the World, Lose the Girl was released on February 15, 2000, and was met with a positive reaction from music critics, who complimented the vocal harmonies.

[1] Each member had been in a punk rock band previously: Hitt in Royalties, Rann in Nowhere Fast, and Saporta in an unnamed act, often playing shows with one another.

[4] The band did pre-production with Heath Miller at Excess dB Studios in Bergen County, New Jersey; he was assisted by Stuart Karmatz and Tom Petta.

[4] Following its conclusion, they traveled to California in July to record with producer Mark Trombino, who was chosen after the band liked his work on Dude Ranch (1997) by Blink-182 and Clarity (1999) by Jimmy Eat World.

Musically, Save the World, Lose the Girl has been described as pop punk, with elements of emo,[7][8] drawing comparison to MxPx,[8] Jawbreaker and the Ataris.

[5] Rann said the title was influenced by the Spider-Man comics, where the titular hero has to renounce the affection of his partner in order to save the world.

[14] Save the World, Lose the Girl was released on Drive-Thru Records on February 15, 2000,[15] which was promoted with a February–March tour with New Found Glory and Rx Bandits.

[13] Preceded by two shows in Hawaii,[16] the band embarked on a full US tour between mid September and late October, with main support from Weston, Hot Rod Circuit, the Juliana Theory, Luckie Strike and Catch 22 appeared on select dates.

AllMusic reviewer Heather Phares said the "deft harmonies and shared lead vocals" offered the tracks "extra appeal.

"[7] She viewed the release as a "strong debut ... reveal[ing] Midtown as an accomplished and surprisingly complex punk band.

"[9] CMJ New Music Report's Bill Konig saw it as an "unpretentious collection of emotionally-charged melodies" that were "fueled by tempestuous beats and dueling guitars.

[28] Rock Hard said in spite of the "beautiful" harmonies, the release provided "a few pleasant corners, edges and melancholy tones" that make it "not necessarily risk-taking, but [a] thoroughly sympathetic album.