Following the break-up of their former band Pela, front-man and guitarist Billy McCarthy and multi-instrumentalist Eric Sanderson decided to continue producing the songs that were originally supposed to comprise Pela's second studio album. Sanderson and McCarthy teamed up with former Pela bandmates Tomislav Zovich and Nate Martinez to record 'Rise Ye Sunken Ships' digitally under the name We Are Augustines on June 6th, 2011, and later physically on August 23rd, 2011. Rob Allen was added to the lineup after the recording of the album.