Absinthe & The Dirty Floors began in February 2009 as a single-album project for the RPM Challenge by lone singer/songwriter Jessica Risker, who wrote and recorded the album in her Chicago apartment. In April 2009, fellow RPM musician and graphic designer Joshua Wentz contacted Jessica with an opportunity for a live gig, offering to play keyboards for the show. Jessica, an engineering intern at Earhole Studios in Chicago, reached out to Earhole engineer Matt Harting to play guitar and bass, along with studio producer Adam Wiebe, and the official band was formed.

Absinthe & The Dirty Floors have since spent the past year playing gigs across Chicago, including shows at the Empty Bottle, Bottom Lounge, and Subterranean. Last winter, the members devoted their spare evenings and weekends working late at Earhole off-hours, developing their sound and recording their first EP, entitled Side 1. Rooted in vintage electrorock, the self-produced 4-track EP features fevered drums, retro guitars, fuzzy synths, and grand piano with a twist of banjo, underscored by despondent melodies and wispy vocals, resulting in a distinctly vintage-yet-modern tone, a range of melancholy, textured songs to dance-infused rock.