Dan Michaelson & the Coastguards

Dan Michaelson & the Coastguards originated as a side endeavor for Dan Michaelson, the lead vocalist of U.K. band Absentee. Once Absentee issued Schmotime in 2006, Michaelson created several songs that clashed with the group's established sound and chose instead to develop those compositions through an alternate outlet. He laid down the tracks in September 2007 before enlisting Absentee bandmate Laurie Earle, along with Henry Fields, Arnulf Lindner, and Henry Clark and Tom Gorbutt of the Rumble Strips, to constitute Dan Michaelson & the Coastguards. Later that year the newly formed unit started recording an album.