"Saturday Morning" was released on June 3, 2003 as a promotional single with the B-sides "Her", "Waltz of the Naked Clowns", and "Sad Foot Sign".

[2] While lead singer Mark Oliver "E" Everett was working on the double disc Blinking Lights and Other Revelations project, he had the idea to make a "succinct, direct and no bullshit" record, inspired by the writing style of blues singer-songwriter Muddy Waters.

Norton left Eels after a Last Call with Carson Daly performance during the Souljacker tour, later telling a journalist his decision was "a business thing".

The album's name comes from a neologism, coined by Everett, for "a social gathering at which participants engage in folk singing and sometimes dancing [a hootenanny], but mostly the shooting of guns.

Eels Additional musicians Technical personnel The song "Agony" was used on the soundtrack of the SyFy TV show Stargate Universe in the 17th episode of the first season.