After their initial reunion, the band decided to challenge themselves to write and record an album in only two weeks without using any digital technology.

Much of the album was recorded in the same sessions as their first post-reunion release, Simple Science, the song "Keith Case" being featured on both.

[9] However, by July, it was revealed the group had scrapped the series[10] due to writing more material; they had accumulated 15 songs by this point.

[10] In the years away from the group, several members had gone on to join major-label acts; Rob Pope became the bassist for Spoon, and James Dewees became the touring keyboardist for My Chemical Romance.

[13] The writing process itself was more free-form than on previous albums, usually beginning with one member suggesting an instrumental part and building on it.

[15] Pope and Dewees often came up with song structures, while Suptic and Pryor would provide input with the latter pair singing gibberish over the tracks.

As they were streamlining things in the studio, Pope and Dewees honed in on the keyboard-centric material with a lot of effect pedal manipulation occurring.

"[17] The guitar riff at the start of "Tithe" was the first part written for the record, something that Pryor felt set the tone for the album.

"[19] "Regent's Court" was written at the end of the final record session in an attempt to write a new song in a short timeframe.

Immediately after "Rememorable" was written, Pryor knew it should be the final track on the album: "It’s a good, high-energy closer.

The label was named after the historic Quality Hill neighborhood in the band's hometown of Kansas City, Missouri.

According to Pryor, the move to their own label (along with the financial support provided by their other projects) has given them greater creative freedom than they previously had.

"We’re not in the music rat race so much, so I think this record is us choosing to do something creative even if it ends up not being as popular as some of the poppier stuff.

[31] On June 1, a music video was released for "Regent's Court",[32] which consists of found footage by director Pat Vamos.

[39] Following their European tour engagements, the members returned to their solo projects (Pryor with May Day), played with other bands (Rob Pope with Spoon, and Dewees with My Chemical Romance), or had children (Suptic with his second child).

[40] The band struggled with self-releasing their own music, eventually leading them to sign with Polyvinyl Record Co. for their later work.

Pitchfork reviewer Ian Cohen praised the band for attempting to move their sound forward, but felt the results were somewhat aimless; "Gone are the band's geographic puns and tales of the romantic rigors of college freshman, but they're replaced by a professional anonymity that kinda sums up the problem with There Are Rules: When you spent the prime of your career trying to document the contours of post-teen torment, what happens when you no longer have a first-hand view?

Now they employ nuanced horror keyboards, digital ticks and big soundtrack guitars working the magic...It is a superb track that couldn't have been made if they'd stuck to a safer formula.

"[47] Adam Pfleider of AbsolutePunk wrote a glowing review, while warning fans not to expect it to sound like the band's previous work; "Some of There Are Rules will be hard to swallow for many of the band's fans...The familiar nuances have been rearranged and built into something stronger, but the attitude and depth is all the same, if not more adhesive and much more endearing than before.

"[43] One of the most positive takes came from Alternative Press, who gave the album four-and-a-half stars out of five; "There Are Rules truly stands out in the members' collective catalogs as a completely unique entity, and one that should be viewed as nothing less than an absolutely stunning success."