The opening track "Lose Control" is a punk rock song that utilises a quiet-and-loud dynamic. The band purposefully wanted the song to be a "proper punch in the face", which they achieved. "Goldfinger" channels the sound of Teenage Fanclub. When they began writing it, the band borrowed an instrumental break section from what they believed was "Goldfinger" (1964) sung by Shirley Bassey, but turned out to be a song by John Barrie. Subsequent sections of the song were written around the world while touring to support "Trailer". Wheeler said they kept the name "Goldfinger" as "it has a lot of mystery". "Girl from Mars" opens with an acoustic guitar intro, before erupting into a wall of guitars, reminiscent of Dinosaur Jr. member J Mascis. A family holiday in France, where Wheeler smoked and drank with some people on a beach, influenced the track's chorus section. The song was written around the time of "Trailer" but not included on it as their manager and label thought it would not be good for the band to have a hit single while still attending school.