It was produced by Mark Trombino, who has previously worked with Jimmy Eat World, Senses Fail, Blink-182 and Finch, amongst others.

[6] Melodic writer Kaj Roth said it combined the sound of their first two albums: "33% pop/punk, 33% new wave and fill out the rest with guitar driven modern rock".

[8] "Stand on Your Feet" evoked the work of Jimmy Eat World, and is followed by the power ballad "It's Gonna Be Hard (When I'm Gone)".

[15] After being initially scheduled for on March 31,[2] the Self-titled Album was eventually released on April 28 through Victory Records.

Following this, the band played three headlining shows, before embarking on The Audition for The Higher Tour from late June to mid-July.

[21] Ox-Fanzine writer David Schumann referred to the album as their "best release to date", highlighting that the "songwriting has been improved again".

[22] AllMusic reviewer Kenneth Herzog wrote that it "displays an agile duplicity, straddling the smoothness of commercial dance music and the bite of distorted riffing".

[6] Roth said the "songs are damn catchy and Butch [Walker]'s spirit lies heavy on some of the tracks for sure".