Essentially a two-man project of Massachusetts natives Kirk Swan and Seth Tiven, with a rotating rhythm section, Dumptruck was, for a brief moment, among the favorites of U.S. college radio in the mid '80s. They combined the jangly power pop sound of the Southern alternative scene with intelligent lyrics and a melancholy twist. Swan left late in 1986, leaving Tiven to carry on for one more album, For the Country, before dissolving the band in 1988. The band re-formed after settling legal disputes with their label in 1995 with a small-scale club tour of the U.S. and a new record deal. Days of Fear followed that same year; Terminal was issued five years later and Lemmings Travel to the Sea appeared in early 2001.