Lions (band) for Allmusic, Eduardo Rivadavia states that Lions "boldly attempts to straddle the hard rock decades" making comparisons to the bands ZZ Top, Queens of the Stone Age, Nebula and Fu Manchu. He goes on to state that while "there's definite room for improvement" the EP "is a very promising first step [for the band]." The band soon gained record label attention from Rock Ridge Music and Roadrunner Records. Though Roadrunner helped to fund the recording of their debut album, they decided against signing the band. The band performed at SXSW '07, which led to the song "Metal Heavy Lady," from
Famous Last Words (band) and drummer Craig Simons. As of 2017, Jeremy Tollas is the only original member. Hailing from Petoskey, Michigan, Famous Last Words formed in 2009 and quickly began to make their mark within the scene. Utilizing heavy guitar riffs, catchy hooks, folly, and symphonic elements, the band took things a step further and introduced detailed stories into their lyrics and album structure; transforming their band into more of an art project. It was characteristics like this that lead the independent label InVogue Records to sign the band in 2012. The band was founded in 2010 in Petoskey in the American state