Seven years since five kids from Kansas City, Kansas crashed the party of every punk-leaning teen in the nation with their breathless hooks and rollicking intensity? Seven years since the Get Up Kids got up and got going, off the grid, with a spunky debut record called Four Minute Mile which brilliantly bashed together sweet Midwestern power-pop with the poisoned punk that can only come from being young, frustrated, and unlucky in love in the suburbs. Uncool, unknown, and unclear on what exa(show more)

Seven years since five kids from Kansas City, Kansas crashed the party of every punk-leaning teen in the nation with their breathless hooks and rollicking intensity? Seven years since the Get Up Kids got up and got going, off the grid, with a spunky debut record called Four Minute Mile which brilliantly bashed together sweet Midwestern power-pop with the poisoned punk that can only come from being young, frustrated, and unlucky in love in the suburbs. Uncool, unknown, and unclear on what exactly was going on, the Get Up Kids from Kansas City and barely in their 20’s, were suddenly the darlings of the underground. Major-labels – then, as now, always good at rubbernecking at the scene of an explosion – came calling but the young quintet decided instead to sign with up and coming West Coast indie label Vagrant. 1999’s Something to Write Home About was one of the last great records of the 20th century and it made the Get Up Kids the most popular band in America that most people had never heard of.