Codeseven was formed in 1995 as a melodic hardcore band in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Their first "official" release (their actual first release was called Paper or Plastic [1996], released through a small Winston-Salem-based label called Huel Records), A Sense of Coalition (1998) gained popularity on college radio stations for a cover of Don Henley's "The Boys of Summer" (not to be confused with The Ataris' cover of the same song that became a mainstream radio hit years later).