Jebediah signed with Murmur Records (a subsidiary label of Sony Music) in April 1996, "on the strength of their live shows alone. There were no demo recordings." The group won their first WAMi award in May that year for Best Stage Presence. In August they issued their first release, a five-track extended play, "Twitch", which peaked at No. 61 on the ARIA Singles Chart. Mitchell and his three band mates co-wrote their original material, with Mitchell supplying most of the lyrics. The band's first single, "Jerks of Attention", appeared in December, which earned a WAMi award, in mid-1997, for Most Popular Song and the group won the Most Popular Band category. Performances at Homebake and the Big Day Out, in addition to support shows for Soundgarden, Everclear, The Presidents of the United States of America, Silverchair and You Am I, further raised the band's profile.