The White Wires feature three longtime fixtures of the Ottawa underground music community: Ian Manhire (guitar and vocals) runs the indie label Going Gaga Records, Luke Martin (bass and vocals) was a member of the band Million Dollar Marxists and hosts the club night Rock ‘n' Roll Pizza Party, and Allie Hanlon (drums) performs and records music under the name Peach Kelli Pop, as well as organizing rock shows at improvised venues. The three knew each other through mutual friends and running into one another at shows, and one evening at a Rock ‘n' Roll Pizza Party show in the fall of 2007, they started talking about forming a band. By late December, the White Wires had started playing live shows, and it didn't take long for them to earn an enthusiastic following for their dirty but energetic pop/punk tunes.

The group cut an album, which was released in late 2008 by Going Gaga in an edition of 325 vinyl LPs; the self-titled album quickly sold out, and was soon reissued by Douchemaster Records. The White Wires took their music south of the (Canadian) border in 2009 with shows at Gonerfest in Memphis, Tennessee, the Atlanta Messaround in Georgia, and South by Southwest in Austin, Texas; they also went into the studio to record several tracks that appeared on singles for Trouble in Mind Records and Ugly Pop Records. In 2010, the White Wires were approached by Dirtnap Records, who had been doing a steady business selling the debut LP through their mail order/Web store. The group and the label struck a deal, and in early 2011, the second White Wires album, II, was issued in CD, LP, and download formats. The simply named III, which offered an ever-so-slightly more mature and earnest take on their revved-up sound, appeared in mid-2012. ~ Mark Deming