Everybody misses the golden music era of the 90s, and that's where Striking Back has drawn inspiration. For their sophomore effort, The Heartbreaker EP, they took it a step further than pop rock—and wrote with some very talented rappers.

The seeds were planted in 2009—as Seattle MCs Hyphen8d and Parker Joe stayed with front man Jordan Thompson during the entire recording process of his freshman effort, The Restless EP—helmed by mega producer Jim Wirt (Incubus, Jack’s Mannequin). "When I left Santa Monica…