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Prior to the earliest incarnation of The Get Up Kids, members Ryan Pope, Rob Pope and Jim Septic had been in a band entitled Kingpin, and Matt Pryor had been frontman in the band the Secret Decoder Ring. After the disbandment of both, The Get Up Kids were formed with Pryor on guitar and lead vocals, Septic on guitar, Rob Pope on bass, and Ryan Pope on drums. The band’s debut release was a 7-inch entitled “Shortly/The Breathing Method”, and before long The Get Up Kids became staples in the underground Midwestern music scene alongside Rocket Fuel Is The Key and Braid.
The Get Up Kids subsequently released the single “A Newfound Interest in Massachusetts”, and the EP “Woodson”. With the success of the releases, the label Doghouse signed the band for a two-album contract, the result of which was “Four Minute Mile” released in 1997. The release and subsequent tour sent ripples across the U.S. and The Get Up Kids signed a new record deal with Los Angeles-based Vagrant Records. In a collaboration with the band Coalesce’s drummer James Dewees, Matt Pryor and Rob Pope released the album “Greatest Hits 1984-1987” under the moniker Reggie and the Full Effect, before returning to the studio as The Get Up Kids.
“Red Letter Day”, a five-track EP arrived in 1998, followed by the band’s genre-defining sophomore album “Something to Write Home About”. Released on Vagrant records, the album propelled the emo genre into the mainstream, and influenced countless bands that would succeed them – with its carefully crafted melodic and introspective energy.
After releasing the album “Endora” featuring previously released material, and touring alongside the likes of Green Day, Hot Rod Circuit and Weezer, The Get Up Kids, released their third full length “On a Wire”. The album was far more minimalist than its predecessor and took the emo genre in a new and sombre direction. Followed by “Guilt Show” in 2004, and a live album “Live @ Granada Theatre” in 2005, the band decided to call it a day and played their last show at their hometown’s Uptown Theatre in July 2005. The Get Up Kids returned in 2009 to marked the 10 year anniversary of “Something to Write Home About”, and subsequently released the EP “Simple Science” and the full-length “There Are Rules”.
The Get Up Kids were one of the first bands to ascend to the mainstream on the back of the burgeoning Emo scene and despite temporarily splitting up in 2005, since 2008 they’ve been back together and making new music unlike the majority of their contemporaries. While to the layman Emo music might seem best fitted to long dark nights of the soul in one’s bedroom, Matt Prior’s mob were always at their best when heard live. With his signature howl and their mix of lacerating guitar riffs with New-Wave indebted keyboard s, this is music that’s well and truly alive. It’s infused with enough soul and passion to power a train and it only gets more vital when it’s performed live. Not many artists play music that has truly inspired people and made them the best that they can be, and the band in turn is pushed to greater heights than they could ever get without them with every live show. Emo rock began here, and it evolved and mutated to the extent where every major rock movement of the past 15 years has an element of it within its very DNA. With that in mind, I urge you to see one of the most quietly influential bands of the 21st century the next chance you can get, you will not regret it.
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