The band again partnered with O'Keefe at Smart Studios in Madison, bringing together the three songs from the demo and recording an additional seven songs in nine days. According to Stump, the band didn't "sleep anywhere that we could shower [...] There was a girl that Andy's girlfriend at the time went to school with who let us sleep on her floor, but we'd be there for maybe four hours at a time. It was crazy." According to Wentz, "we were lying to our parents about what we were doing, cutting corners. I was supposed to be in school. I didn't have access to money or a credit card. I don't think any of us did." The studio provided the band with soda during the recording process, but the band was hungry: "We were like, 'Could you take that soda money and buy us peanut butter, jelly and bread?' which they did." The group's goal with "Grave" was to make an album that was as "seamless and good from song to song" as Saves the Day's "Through Being Cool".