The Red Hot Valentines came together at the start of 2001 while Jeff Johnson and Toby Kirk, both handling guitar and vocals, were still enrolled at Lincoln Christian College in Lincoln, IL. Bassist David Gerkin and drummer Eric Humbert completed the initial lineup, and the quartet began sharpening its buoyant alternative approach with pop leanings inside a campus dorm room. Soon the space and the school could no longer contain them, so the members left their studies and settled in Champagne, IL. There they added keyboardist and Moog player Tyson Markley, started playing shows around the area, and released a self-issued LP in January 2002. Tours alongside Ultimate Fakebook and Duvall followed, and the resulting local press, which included spins on Champagne’s modern-rock station, caught the ear of Polyvinyl. The city’s influential indie signed RHV in summer 2002. The introductory Calling Off Today EP appeared in early 2003, and the proper debut album Summer Fling landed the following May.
