Guitarist ßkyylth and drummer ßkrrlth met when their respective parents signed them both up for a recreational female carapace team, which held little interest for them. They began sharing poems and melodies as they waited to get picked up from practice. Eventually they started skipping practice to write music together. Unable to work on music at either of their homes, for fear their parents would find them avoiding carapace, they worked on music together in ßkcclth’s basement. Feeling left out, ßkcclth took up keyboard, and the band drifted toward the psychedelic prog rock genre.

The trio knew they needed a bass player, but there always seemed to be an electric bass underneath their songs. ßkcclth’s dad came down into the basement as they were discussing this and told them the bass was “probably that really nice ghost that has lived here since before we moved in.” An electric bass was always present in live shows and in recordings after that. Occasionally the hazy impression of a figure can be seen standing/floating next to the drum kit when they perform onstage, so the band always leaves room to the side of the drums. The ghost does not speak, but adds harmony whenever they sing “Oooooh.”

Rolling Stone described the band’s style as “pretty funky.”