When vocalist/guitarist Jared Draughon and guitarist Mitchell Marlow assembled in the early months of 2002 in their hometown of Chapel Hill, NC to collaborate.

Draughon and Marlow were no perfect strangers to partnering in bands. Both had shared the stage in an early melodic-punk incarnation, but had been separated for two and recorded and released an EP dubbed "It's Been Business Doing Pleasure With You". The band quickly began gaining attention while playing with everyone from Puddle of Mudd and Orgy to Taking Back Sunday and The Used, showing their duality and holding their own with audiences regardless of the confines of genre.

In 2004, original drummer Stephan Linde, was replaced by his longtime friend and fellow Long Islander, Durijah Lang (Glassjaw, The Stryder). After several months of touring and writing, the band delved into a Manhattan recording studio for 3 months to record their debut full-length, Dress to Depress. Echoes of early-90's, post-hardcore bands Helmet and Quicksand, as well as 80's icons U2 and The Police, reverberate throughout.

Classic Case spent 2005 with the addition of former Beloved vocalist/guitarist Josh Moore being brought into the fold, and the band packing up and returning to its birthplace in North Carolina. Dress to Depress was released October 18, 2005, on Help/Fiddler Records. The band has continued to tirelessly support the album on tour, despite the absolving and subsequent ending of Fiddler Records shortly after the record was released.