The Get Up Kids

The Get Up Kids
The Get Up Kids performing in 2021
The Get Up Kids performing in 2021
Background information
OriginKansas City, U.S.
Genres
Years active1995–2005, 2008–present
Labels
MembersMatt Pryor
Jim Suptic
Rob Pope
Ryan Pope
Dustin Kinsey
Past membersNathan Shay
Thomas Becker
James Dewees
Websitethegetupkids.com

The Get Up Kids are an American rock band from Kansas City. Formed in 1995, the band was a major act in the mid-1990s Midwest emo scene, otherwise known as the "second wave" of emo music. Their second album Something to Write Home About remains their most widely acclaimed album, and is considered to be one of the quintessential albums of the second-wave emo movement.[3] They are considered forefathers of the emo genre, and have been widely credited as being an influence, both by contemporaries Saves the Day and later bands such as Fall Out Boy, Taking Back Sunday and the Wonder Years.

As they gained prominence, they began touring with bands such as Green Day and Weezer before becoming headliners themselves, eventually embarking on international tours of Japan and Europe.[4][5] They founded Heroes & Villains Records, an imprint of the successful indie rock label Vagrant Records. While the imprint was started to release albums by the Get Up Kids, it served as a launching pad for several side-projects such as the New Amsterdams and Reggie and the Full Effect.[6]

The band departed heavily from their established style with the release of their 2002 album On a Wire, which saw the band take on a much more layered, alternative rock sound. Like many early emo bands, the Get Up Kids sought to dissociate themselves from the term "emo."

Due to internal conflicts, the band broke up in 2005. Three years later, the band reunited to support the tenth anniversary re-release of Something to Write Home About, and soon afterward entered the studio to write new material.[7] In early 2010, the band released Simple Science, their first release in six years, followed in 2011 by the full-length There Are Rules. Their most recent studio album, Problems, which was seen by many as a return to their early style, was released in 2019.

The Get Up Kids have cited numerous bands as influences, including Superchunk,[8][9] Jawbreaker, Fugazi,[9] Rocket from the Crypt, Sunny Day Real Estate, Cap'n Jazz,[10] Vitreous Humor,[11] and Jimmy Eat World.[12][13]

  1. ^ "The Get Up Kids Prep Vinyl Reissues of 'Eudora' and 'On a Wire'" – via exclaim.ca. Kansas City emo-pop players the Get Up Kids haven't yet revealed plans to deliver a follow-up to their 2011 comeback LP There Are Rules, but the band will reissue a pair of previously released platters this fall.
  2. ^ Wesley Case. "After break, Matt Pryor back to songwriting". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on March 11, 2019. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
  3. ^ Greenwald, Andy (2003). Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, and Emo. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-30863-9.
  4. ^ McMahan, Tim (December 11, 2002). "The Get Up Kids". The Omaha Weekly. Retrieved March 2, 2008.
  5. ^ Edwards, Gavin (August 5, 2002). "The Get Up Kids Get Up". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 30, 2007. Retrieved March 2, 2008.
  6. ^ Schild, Matt (September 6, 1999). "Get Up, Stand Up". Aversion.com. Retrieved March 2, 2008.
  7. ^ "The Get Up Kids Writing New Material". Rock Sound. August 19, 2009. Retrieved August 20, 2009.
  8. ^ Pensky, Nathan (May 23, 2011). "Making Peace with an Emo Past: An Interview With The Get Up Kids". PopMatters. Archived from the original on December 24, 2023. Retrieved June 8, 2024. We never really felt like we belonged to a genre. It seems like people put us into a genre. We wanted to play indie rock. We wanted to be Superchunk.
  9. ^ a b Crowther IV, Rob (July 24, 2019). "Matt Pryor of The Get Up Kids on 'Problems,' Growing Up Musically & Asbury Park". The Pop Break. Archived from the original on May 21, 2023. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  10. ^ Skinner, James (July 27, 2009). "If this is the world we helped create, then I apologize." The Get Up Kids, get back". Drowned In Sound. Archived from the original on July 9, 2023. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
  11. ^ "The Get Up Kids make Magnet a mix tape". Magnet Magazine. March 24, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2023. A truly overlooked band from our hometown Lawrence, Kan. These guys were a big influence in the early days of our band.
  12. ^ Riesser, Dan (September 28, 2000). "The Hatchet interviews Get Up Kids' lead singer". The GW Hatchet. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Interview 16/08/08 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).