Tamborello had contacts at famed Seattle-based record label Sub Pop, best-known for releasing albums by Nirvana and Sleater-Kinney. Tony Kiewel, who had gone to college with Tamborello, had recently began working for Sub Pop in their A&R division. He proposed that they release an full-length album as opposed to an EP, noting that the former received more attention than the latter. "If you're going to do it, do a full album," he told the duo. "People will review it, and you can sell it for three times as much." The duo signed a joint record deal with Sub Pop, and work in earnest began on what became "Give Up" in December 2001.