In the spring of 2008, songwriter Chris Hatfield left his home state of Michigan and moved to the San Francisco Bay area in order to immerse himself in that region's ascendant music scene. Still in the midst of completing an album with long-time collaborator Heath Johnson, Hatfield embarked on a search for additional musicians who shared his musical perspectives and goals. After a year of searching, Hatfield joined forces with lead guitarist Erik Cline. The pair then recruited bassist Joelle Barrios, formerly of Tampa's Pagan Saints and Stitch. Almost complete, the group continued to look for their missing piece and found it when they stumbled upon veteran drummer and Philadelphia transplant Mike Ambs, former drummer for The Burning Brides, Marah and Philly psych-legends the Three4Tens. The immediate chemistry between the members of the new quartet resulted in a flood of original songs in a matter of weeks, which the group is road-testing in preparation for their forthcoming album while continuing to work on new material. Following their eagerly-received debut in San Francisco, Love Axe are currently planning summer 2011 tours for the West Coast and beyond.

The seeds of Love Axe were planted when Hatfield met drummer Heath Johnson in the early winter of 2000. Quickly identifying each other as worth collaborators, the pair joined with guitarist Denis Blount to form Army/Navy, releasing a 2002 EP and 2004 full-length for Suburban Sprawl Music. After the release of Army/Navy's self-titled LP, the trio elected to part ways, and Hatfield attended graduate school for composition while joining indie-pop group Those Transatlantics as a songwriter and keyboard player.

After an extended period of time in Those Transatlantics, Hatfield became dissatisfied with the group's pace and inability to capitalize on its potential. Armed with a glut of unrealized songs and ideas, he approached Johnson about rekindling their musical partnership. Two years later, they came away with an album they could both agree that neither party was happy with. Luckily, both Hatfield and Johnson moved to opposite coasts of the US before any solution could be found regarding their recordings, and thus many months were spent sending mixes back and forth while the appropriate revisions were made. Recorded in Michigan and mixed at studios in both San Francisco and New York City, 'Phenomenomenons' is the culmination of years of effort between Johnson and Hatfield, along with mixing engineer and former bandmate, Denis Blount.