Ceremony took the fashionista pop world by storm in summer 2005 with "Throwing Bricks." The perfectly stylish song pulls from the band's influences -- the Smiths, New Order, Oasis, and the Cure -- and it was just enough to get them on Posi Numbers. Part new wave and part new-millennium post-punk, this Bay Area five piece originally got together in 2004. Farrar and Davis had left behind their former hardcore band, Hammertime, when they noticed a classified ad in the local newspaper placed by Anzaldo. Both of them were huge Oasis fans, and within weeks the three composed their soon-to-be cult hit, "Kersed." Mattos, a former medical courier, and Casarottii, a classical percussion major at UNLV, soon joined the fray that became Ceremony.

The DC-based indie imprint Malfunction caught wind of the band's brewing hype and quickly signed them to issue the limited-edition LP "Violence Violence" in June 06. In July, Ceremony's buzz earned them a prime spot at the annual Sound & Fury Festival. A worldwide deal with Bridge 9 followed shortly thereafter, positioning Ceremony to join the ranks of Interpol, the Rapture, and the Strokes. Shared U.S. dates with Lights Out and Go It Alone in summer 2006 also gave the band the opportunity to showcase material from its debut album. "Scared People" appeared in June on Bridge 9. Two months later, it was announced that Ceremony was among the ten finalists up for the 2007 Shortlist Music Prize.