About
As one of the first and most successful bands to merge the sounds of hardcore and catchy pop-punk, its impossible to overstate the Get Up Kids influence on alternative rock. At any given stage of any given Warped Tour you'll hear a whole generation of bands built from the blueprints laid out in their 1997 debut, Four Minute Mile -- an LP recorded by Shellac's Bob Weston in a mere two days. The band officially formed two years earlier in Kansas City, Kansas, as a venture between singing guitarist Matthew Pryor, guitarist and back-up singer Jim Suptic, bassist Robert Pope and drummer Nathan Shay, though Shay was soon replaced by Pope's younger brother, Ryan. Indie labels licked their chops to release the band's 1999 sophomore record, Something To Write Home About, which was issued on Vagrant and saw the enlistment of keyboardist James Dewees. Heavy touring took its toll on the band's personal lives and creativity: much of the spark was gone by 2002's On A Wire, and the commercially sleek 2004 LP Guilt Show had more in common with the band's many clones than their own source material. In 2005, the Get Up Kids played a farewell concert at the Granada Theater in Kansas City, which was released as a swan song.
- Nate Cavalieri
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