The seeds of Abunai! germinated with a series of jam sessions between bassist Dan Parmenter, guitarist Brendan Quinn, and drummer Joe Turner. Dan and Joe had been with psych-popsters Cinnamon (not the Euro band), while Brendan had been in several punk bands (most notably Tripwire), and was ready to explore new sonic horizons. A few weeks later the group was completed by the addition of Brendan's recently-unearthed college friend Kris Thompson (who'd been with Nisi Period, Jasmine Love Bomb, and The Prefab Messiahs) on organ, synth, and theremin.

The group found some deep common ground in a flowing and dynamic modal improv style, and began grafting that onto unsuspecting pop structures and skeletons of traditional folk songs as well.