Volume 1 is the debut studio album by indie super-group BNQT, led by Eric Pulido (Midlake) with Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses), Alex Kapranos (Franz Ferdinand), Fran Healy (Travis) and Jason Lytle (Grandaddy), backed by the other members of Midlake.

Pulido wanted to gather a number of contrasting yet complementary artists he’d befriended or shared the stage with and establish an environment in which they could collaborate.

Pulido said “That’s what art is about for me, creating with other people that you love and appreciate.” Due to members being spread around the world, recordings were either done through travel to Denton or remotely over the internet.

[5] Tim Sendra of Allmusic described it as a "remarkably coherent and listenable album that goes down very smooth, but not without the occasional moment of real emotion or foot-tapping fun".

[2] In a less favourable review for Pitchfork, Philip Cosores criticises the album for being like "hapless projects that are more fun for the artists involved than for the listeners".