Cheshire Cat is the debut studio album by American rock band Blink-182. Recorded at Westbeach Recorders in Los Angeles and produced by Otis Barthoulameu and the band themselves, the album was released on February 17, 1995 through local independent record label Cargo Music. The trio, composed of guitarist Tom DeLonge, bassist Mark Hoppus, and drummer Scott Raynor, formed in 1992 and recorded three demos that impressed the San Diego-based Cargo. In addition, their reputation as an irreverent local live act at venues such as SOMA alerted the label, which was trying to expand into different genres.

Cargo were still not in a position to offer more than a few days' worth of finances to record the album, and so the band recorded under financial constraints at Westbeach. Ten Foot Pole member Steve Kravac engineered the recording and advised the trio to record additional overdubs. As such, the band spent an additional week re-recording several tracks at Santee, California's Doubletime Studios. The record was originally released with the band's name as Blink, until an Irish band of the same name threatened legal action, after which the band appended "-182" to the end of their name.

Released during the breakthrough year for punk rock in California, the album brought the band great success in and outside of the San Diego skate punk scene. "M+M's" and "Wasting Time" were released as singles to promote the album, and received popularity locally through radio play. The band toured in support of the album vigorously, most notably on the GoodTimes Tour of 1995, which brought them outside of California for the first time. Cheshire Cat is cited by bands and fans as an iconic release and has sold in excess of 250,000 copies as of 2001.

San Diego-based trio Blink-182, formed in 1992, first promoted itself by recording low-fi demos to distribute to local record stores and at concerts. The three eventually were playing concerts at local venues such as SOMA, which alerted local independent record label Cargo Music. Cargo was at the heart of San Diego's music scene, which wasn't particularly thriving but still produced several skate punk acts. Pat Secor, who funded the trio's demo Buddha and was the former boss of Hoppus, pulled for Blink's move to Cargo through a roommate who knew Cargo executives. O, guitarist of local Cargo Music-signed act Fluf, saw potential in the young band and pushed them from the beginning. Eric Goodis, president of Cargo, wanted to diversify the label by incorporating different styles of music. His son, Brahm Goodis, thought Blink and their style of Southern California punk fit the bill and encouraged his father to listen to a tape. Together, O and Brahm Goodis convinced Eric Goodis to attend a live performance of the band.

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