The Get Up Kids - Kicker 12”

The Get Up Kids are a band that grew up in public. Since forming in Kansas City in 1995, they’ve established themselves as a group whose music withstands trends and transcends the superficial in favor of something that stands the test of time. The four-song Kicker EP -- the band's Polyvinyl Record Co. debut -- is the newest addition to their catalog of influential EPs (such as 1997's Woodson and 1999's Red Letter Day), as well as their first new release since 2011’s LP There Are Rules. Since that album came out the band have been touring when their schedules permits and living very adult lives that include activities like raising kids (Matt, Rob, Jim), moving away (James) and moving back (Ryan), starting businesses (Ryan), getting a degree in geology (Jim), joining a local kickball league (Matt), accidentally being electrocuted on stage (Rob), or simply struggling with social media. Correspondingly while the band’s early releases were written while the band members were entering their twenties, Kicker sees them in their forties, and the songs show a perspective that can only be learned from experience. The Get Up Kids have never been afraid to try something new, but the songs here -- recorded over the course of the last year at Fire and Ice studio in Baldwin, Kansas -- mark a full-circle breakthrough for the band.