 Several of the songs were inspired by 1960s and 1970s rock bands. "Between the Lines" was written with The Animals, The Zombies and Paul Revere & the Raiders in mind, and Weiland considered "Cinnamon" to be a combination of 1960s British pop and Ian Curtis (of Joy Division). "Huckleberry Crumble" was inspired by Aerosmith, specifically "Same Old Song and Dance". Dean admitted to the similarities: "The arrangement is almost the same: riff, solo, verse, chorus, solo, back to a second verse — it's pretty much the same setup." He also noted how the song sounded different depending on the type of instruments used to play it. "It's amazing how, if you were to present that opening riff on a Tele really clean, it's almost a country riff. But if you present it with a Les Paul through a Marshall, it takes on this whole different thing."
