After The Get Up Kids went on hiatus after their 2004 world tour, Pryor turned his focus to The New Amsterdams, who started recording the first version of "Killed or Cured". They initially recorded a more stripped-down acoustic version of the album, with many songs featuring only Pryor on vocals and guitar. In 2005, The Get Up Kids formally announced their breakup, and that they would be doing one final tour before splitting up permanently on June 2. Because of this Vagrant Records, the label to which both The Get Up Kids and The New Amsterdams were signed, wanted to hold off on the release of "Killed or Cured", as it would reflect poorly on The Get Up Kids due to the mood of when it was written.