The W's discovered a break when a mutual friend from Eugene, Aaron James (employed at the time by Five Minute Walk Records), offered them a spot opening for Five Iron Frenzy in Concord, California. Following the CD release party for Five Iron Frenzy's "Our Newest Album Ever!" in November 1997, they signed with Frank Tate's Five Minute Walk Records. Within a year they produced their first album, "Fourth from the Last". The album was released when neo-swing was popular. In its opening week it sold almost 9,000 units, representing over half of the total stock that had been manufactured. This was the highest-selling band debut to date of any album for Five Minute Walks's distributor, Chordant. This also placed "Fourth" at the No. 4 spot on both "Billboard's" Heatseekers and Top Contemporary Christian charts.