The emo-pop outfit Cute Is What We Aim For emerged from Buffalo, NY, in January 2005. Although originally formed as a quintet, the band ultimately stripped down to four members, with vocalist Shaant Hacikyan, guitarist/pianist Jeff Czum, drummer Tom Falcone, and bassist/guitarist Fred Cimato comprising the lineup. Wasting little time, the bandmates recorded a handful demos that landed them on Fueled by Ramen's roster before the year's end. Cute Is What We Aim For then hooked up with producer Matt Squire (Northstar, Panic at the Disco) for the group's debut full-length, The Same Old Blood Rush with a New Touch, which arrived in June 2006. The band hit the road in support of the album, sharing bills over the summer with such bands as Anberlin, Spitalfield, Forgive Durden, and June. That fall, bassist Cimato left the lineup to pursue academia, with Jack Marin (ex-October Fall) climbing aboard in his place. (Bass duties would eventually shift to Dave Melillo.) The band's second album, Rotation, was released in June 2008, and Cute Is What We Aim For returned to the road with replacement drummer Michael Lasaponara in tow.