Jørgen Pedersen and Andrew Rea are huge That Thing You Do! (1996) fans and put many references throughout the film including band names, character names, and used it as a reference point for the whole thrust of the film.
Keith Thompson's character, Mr. Petricone, is named after That Thing You Do! (1996) star Alex Rocco's birth name.
While heavily influenced by the rock and soul duo Daryl Hall and John Oates, they also exhibit attributes of other famous twosomes - John Lennon & Paul McCartney (almost having a solo single released while working together, i.e. "Yesterday"), Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel (the on-again-off-again relationship), and David Lee Roth & Edward Van Halen (getting angry over solo work).