Circa Waves was formed in Liverpool in May 2013 by guitarist and singer Kieran Shudall, who had decided to "knuckle down" and commit fully to music after spending years in a succession of no-hope garage bands. After writing a batch of songs and putting some demos online, he recruited second guitarist Joe Falconer, bassist Sam Rourke, and drummer Sian Plummer (replaced by Colin Jones in 2015), and the band undertook a few short tours of the U.K. and Europe. Their melodic, propulsive rock sound, heavily inspired by the Strokes and often compared to the Vaccines, was well-received by audiences, and such a buzz built around them that they were soon offered a deal with Transgressive Records, erstwhile home of Foals, the Subways, and Mystery Jets.