The Get Up Kids

Though often cited as being instrumental in forging the mid-'90s, post-hardcore aesthetic that was the second wave of emo, many of the Get Up Kids' latter-day critics forget that the band wrote pop songs worth imitating. And it just so happens that the airwaves of the last decade have been...

By Tom Murphy

September 10, 2009

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Though often cited as being instrumental in forging the mid-'90s, post-hardcore aesthetic that was the second wave of emo, many of the Get Up Kids' latter-day critics forget that the band wrote pop songs worth imitating. And it just so happens that the airwaves of the last decade have been glutted with the not-often-inspired spawn of that sound and songwriting style. But the Kids never intended to be the godfathers of a movement any more than the Beatles set out to be a big influence on Charles Manson. What they did, however, was take their core of intensely energetic punk-rock-based pop and evolve its sound with each album. Not strictly kids anymore, the Get Up Kids still perform with their hearts on their sleeves.

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Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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