the writing, Suptic was on his honeymoon, and Dewees was far less involved in the initial writing process. However, this gave brothers Rob and Ryan Pope a more substantial role in writing the album than they had previously had. The album was far less collaborative than their previous works, many songs being written and demoed by Pryor, then fleshed out by the rest of the band. During the writing, the group was listening to the Clash and Elvis Costello and the Attractions. They wanted more upbeat songs that would work well live, citing a return to the sound of Something to Write Home About (1999). Pryor was at the happiest point of his life up to that point, but thought that it would not work well lyrical and started writing about other people's relationships. He claimed there was "hardly" anything on the album relating to his life. He stated that Pope's divorce was "pretty heavy shit to have gone through. So yeah, it made for good lyrical fodder." Pope said the theme and overall tone of the songs changed following it: "It made everyone step back and go, 'Wow. Okay.' It’s a big thing." Additionally, a lot of the album talks about conflict between friends. The album's title stemmed from an occasion where Rob Pope and Rose were driving to the studio. They passed a church that said "annual quilt show", which the pair misread as "annual guilt show". Discussing the meaning, Pryor said there was a lot of lyrics referring to "betrayal in one form or another, and guilt seems to go hand-in-hand with betrayal." "The One You Want" is about a woman that Pryor wishes he never met: "She sucks the soul out of people, and she spends all of my friend's money on drugs and stupid sh--." He referred to it as "'77 era" power pop. "Wouldn't Believe" is about an occurrence of adultery that eventually ends in divorce. Pryor found "Holy Roman" to be a departure from his usual writings due to its political nature. It was influenced by him becoming a father, stating his awareness of the political climate in the world outside of life in a band. "How Long Is Too Long" talks about a man who sleeps with another guy's partner. The track was the first of two written during the On a Wire sessions, but were left off as they didn't fit