The group's self-financed and self-titled debut was released on a small Boston record label in 1986 before being issued in the UK by Demon Records. The group signed to RCA Records, which reissued the debut in the United States. Their first recording attempt was a modest success – Champagne's "I Got a Gun" and Sandman's cover of James Blood Ulmer's "Where Did All the Girls Come From?" received some play on college radio. "I Think She Likes Me" describes Sandman's experience in a Fairplay, Colorado bar where a woman came on to him. Critic John Dugan described the debut as "slick, intelligent, sly, and well worth your while."