The Breeders started life as a side project for Kim Deal of the Pixies, Tanya Donelly of Throwing Muses, Josephine Wiggs of the British band The Perfect Disaster, and Britt Walford of Slint. They recorded the album Pod with Steve Albini in a mere ten days, in Edinburgh, Scotland. The album was released on 4AD in 1990 to critical acclaim. The press dubbed the Breeders an Indie Supergroup, but the band was able to play only two London shows before returning to their day jobs.

During another hiatus in 1992, Josephine flew to Dayton, Ohio, where Kim had recruited her sister Kelley to learn lead guitar, and stolen powerhouse drummer Jim Macpherson after seeing him play in a local band. They broke an exhaustive rehearsal schedule only to watch nightly re-runs of Star Trek The Next Generation.