Norman Brannon acquired copies of the group's demo and 7-inch single and gave them to Jade Tree co-founder Tim Own. Shortly afterwards, the band was signed to the independent label for a three-album contract. After further touring at the start of 1996, the Falsetto Keeps Time EP was released in February, and was followed by a split single with Texas Is the Reason in May. Both releases were successful, with the band continuing to tour and work on material that would feature on their debut album. The Promise Ring's first studio album titled 30° Everywhere, was released by Jade Tree in September 1996. Retrospectively, band members have voiced their dislike of the record; according to Bohlen, the album was recorded in only five days. The band additionally was confused about how they wanted to approach the music on the new record; Bohlen described the situation as one "where we had no idea what we wanted to do or how we wanted it to come out." Didier later spoke of his dislike of Casey Rice's engineering on the record, as well as Bohlen's illness during the recording: "it was the wrong recording at the wrong time with the wrong person." Despite this, the release was an underground success, earning the group's attention from independent publications. The attention was drawn and aided by the inclusion of "A Picture Postcard", which had earlier appeared on Falsetto Keeps Time and would go on to become a staple of the emo genre. The song again appeared as part of an EP titled The Horse Latitudes, which effectively reissued the band's earlier work in early 1997. Although the band had 500–600 copies of 30° Everywhere to sell over the course of several gigs, the album sold out at CBGB's. The band further promoted 30° Everywhere starting with a six-week US tour with Texas Is the Reason, followed by a European tour in April–May 1997. Nothing Feels Good (1997–1998) Immediately following the European tour's conclusion, the band began writing new material for their second album, sometimes jamming for inspiration. The group went to Memphis, Tennessee, and recorded the album, titled Nothing Feels Good, at Easley McCain Recording with producer J. Robbins of Jawbox. The relationship between Didier and Beschta throughout the sessions progressively deteriorated. Around the release of Nothing Feels Good, Beschta was replaced by Tim Burton for the album's supporting tour. Burton was a former bandmate