DARK LIKE A RESTAURANT grew out of a number of experimental bands working in the Dallas, Texas area in 1979-80. In the wake of the Sex Pistols show at the Bronco Bowl (1978), an entire scene grew up in Dallas that was part punk, part proto-new wave. One of these bands was BOYS LIFE, which contained two of the three members of the later Dark Like a Restaurant (only Roland TR808 was not in Boys Life). Rex Koontz played guitar and sang. Boys Life was fronted by Jaime Lagarella (keyboards and voice), later an important producer and engineer; Bob Green (bass, later of The Grassy Knoll), and Jeff Zilm (drums, currently a painter and previously of the Comateens). Boys Life never recorded but played several important shows at the premier Dallas experimental showcase the Hot Klub.

After Boys Life disbanded without a recording, Dark Like a Restaurant formed to showcase Koontz’s stripped synth and guitar sound and his increasing obsession with the hypnotic rhythms of the then new Roland TR808 drum machine. The combination of minimal synth foundations and a floating, haunting guitar sound served as the calling card for the band.