Singer and bassist Isaac Emmanuel formed his first band with drummer Matt Harrison while they were both at primary school. Though they experimented with joining other bands, they slowly built their own group from people who had coincidentally all grown up in the same suburb of Brisbane, including Cate Porter (synth), Thomas Baxter (samples), and Marcel Dorney (guitar). When Dorney left to pursue a career as a playwright, a replacement guitarist was found in Melbourne, Troy O'Shea, who just happened to be from the exact same suburb as the rest of the band.

After playing their first concert alongside '70s rock revivalists Wolfmother, Flamingo Crash released two EPs independently on their own Manifest X label. With the lineup of the band settled, they booked studio time with the acclaimed producer Magoo, who had worked with Midnight Oil, Operator Please, and Regurgitator. Magoo had recently bought an abandoned country church and turned it into a studio, and Flamingo Crash were brought in to test it out. The producer was apparently surprised to discover that their candy-pop electroclash was performed live rather than predominantly being made of samples, as he'd expected. The 2008 album Triangle Island was the result. ~ Jody Macgregor