[1] They were more popular within Christian music than their neo-swing counterparts such as the Squirrel Nut Zippers or The Brian Setzer Orchestra.

[3] Before breaking up in 2000, the group released two albums, topped Christian rock radio and sales charts, and won two Gospel Music Association awards.

The band was spearheaded and envisioned by Shultz, but he moved to Seattle to work for Brandon Ebel with Tooth & Nail Records.

[5] By September 1997 Shultz had left, and the group was joined by Bret Barker (trumpet), who Schar met through Campus Crusade for Christ,[6] and James Carter (alto saxophone, background vocals).

Peter Kelly drummed during middle to the end of 1997, but he broke his arm in a skateboarding accident a few days before recording.

[6] The W's discovered a break when a mutual friend from Eugene, Aaron James (employed at the time by Five Minute Walk Records), offered them a spot opening for Five Iron Frenzy in Concord, California.

[11] Despite being pulled from the shelves of LifeWay Christian Resources stores for containing indecent words (eg, suck, butt)[10] The W's sold over 31,000 copies in five weeks,[7] and eventually over 200,000 units,[12] peaking at No.

[18] From late that month until May the band opened for Christian rock group dc Talk on their Supernatural Experience tour.

[19] That fall the band embarked on the national Holy Roller Tour with The Insyderz, Five Iron Frenzy, and Justin McRoberts.

[23] One song from the sessions, "Somewhere Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" was released on the compilation Take Time to Listen Volume 5.

Bret Barker and Valentine Hellman appeared on Five Iron Frenzy's 2000 album All the Hype That Money Can Buy.

"[3] While the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music cites this as a "subdued approach to ministry",[2] other commentators saw it as a disappointing lack of spiritual message, especially on Trouble With X.

[40] Characterized by James Carter, "The last album, we wrote about our everyday lives... the majority of the songs were about skateboarding and stories we made up.

"[40] The band leveled criticism at the church and Christians generally, sometimes using sarcasm, reminding one reviewer of Steve Taylor.

[40] In the song "Stupid" the band used the example of abortion clinic bombings (see, for example Eric Robert Rudolph) to make a pronounced statement about hypocrisy.

It draws inspiration from several biblical figures and stories, including Moses' Burning bush, Gideon, Peter's denial of Christ, and Paul's role in the death of Stephen to show how God can use anybody for his purposes.

[4][40] "J.P." tells about how a friend of Valentine Hellman encouraged him to leave the party scene and rededicate his life to Christ.

More mundane topics include the hardships of school ("101") and of touring and making music professionally ("Two More Weeks", "Open Minded").

[2] Another notable song was their cover of John Denver's "Country Roads", which some thought worked well as a swing tune.