The Get Up Kids‘ 1999 emo classic Something To Write Home About turns 25 this year, and the anniversary celebrations keep coming. The band already announced that they’ll play it in full on a 25th anniversary tour with The Smoking Popes, and now they also announced an expanded 25th anniversary reissue.
Coming August 23 digitally and September 20 physically via Polyvinyl, the deluxe reissue features a newly-remastered edition of the LP, a second LP with 12 rare or previously unreleased demos from the era (including Matt Pryor’s original four-track acoustic demos of four STWHA-era songs), and a 28-page full color booklet. We’ve got an exclusive “violet & silver mix” vinyl variant up for pre-order in the BV shop, limited to 500. Get yours while they last and check out a mock-up below.
“When we set out to write what would become the album Something to Write Home About, I never imagined all the places it would take us,” says co-guitarist/vocalist Jim Suptic. “From touring around the world, being on MTV’s 120 Minutes, to opening for childhood heroes. When I listen back to these demos it takes me right back to our practice space in Kansas City. We were so young, but we were driven to make something great. When we walked into that LA studio, we were very prepared. This was the first time we actually made real demos for a record and I think it shows in the final product.”
“Our first record is what it is—its imperfections are one of the things that people like about it,” adds Matt Pryor. “But I personally wanted us to record something that sounded like a real band, that sounded professional and, you know, big. The record sounds bigger and more expensive than it actually is, which I think is a testament to both our ability as a band and to [Chad] Blinman’s ability as a producer.”
Along with the announcement comes a demo of “Holiday” with different lyrics, and the first-ever official music video for the album version of “Holiday,” featuring a collage of old tour footage from the era, directed by Shawn Brackbill. “The biggest takeaway from watching this video is how young we were,” says Matt. “It’s like watching your parents’ home movies of you riding a big wheel in the backyard. Just babies. A lot of these are from a time when the record was finished but people hadn’t really heard it yet. We’d just spent a long, frustrating year trying to get it made and when it finally saw the light of day we just came out swinging. I remember a lot of these shows, The Fireside Bowl in Chicago particularly. That always felt like a home away from home for us back then. The kids onstage in these videos really have no idea how much this album will change their lives, that we’ll still be talking about it twenty five years later.” Check out the “Holiday” demo and new video below.
The Get Up Kids’ Something To Write Home About tour with The Smoking Popes hits the NYC-area on September 28 at Warsaw and October 1 at The Stone Pony. Tickets are still available. The band is also playing Las Vegas’ new emo festival Best Friends Forever. All dates are listed below.
Pre-order up our exclusive STWHA vinyl variant in the BV shop. Here’s the mock-up:
Tracklist
LP1:
1. Holiday
2. Action & Action
3. Valentine
4. Red Letter Day
5. Out of Reach
6. Ten Minutes
7. The Company Dime
8. My Apology
9. I’m a Loner Dottie, a Rebel
10. Long Goodnight
11. Close to Home
12. I’ll Catch You
LP2:
1. One Year Later (Demo)
2. Close to Home (Demo)
3. Out of Reach (Demo)
4. Holiday (Demo)
5. Valentine (Demo)
6. My Apology (Demo)
7. Red Letter Day (Demo)
8. Ten Minutes (Demo)
9. Central Standard Time (Four Track Demo)
10. Long Goodnight (Four Track Demo)
11. The Company Dime (Four Track Demo)
12. I’ll Catch You (Four Track Demo)
The Get Up Kids — 2024 Tour Dates
08/01 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Circo Voador
08/04 – Sao Paulo, Brazil – Oxigênio Festival
08/06 – Recoleta, Chile – Sala Metrónomo
08/09 – Mexico City, Mexico – Foro La Paz
08/10 – Monterrey, Mexico – Foro Tims
08/23 – Dallas, TX – Studio at The Factory #
08/24 – Austin, TX – Mohawk #
08/25 – San Antonio, TX – Paper Tiger #
08/27 – Mesa, AZ – The Nile #
08/29 – San Diego, CA – Observatory North Park #
08/30 – Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour #
08/31 – Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour #
09/01 – Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour #
09/03 – San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall #
09/04 – San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall #
09/06 – Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory Spokane #
09/07 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall #
09/08 – Seattle, WA – Showbox #
09/10 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot #
09/11 – Englewood, CO – Gothic Theatre #
09/13 – Kansas City, MO – Record Bar #
09/14 – Lawrence, KS – Bottleneck #
09/15 – Lawrence, KS – Bottleneck #
09/24 – Columbus, OH – The Athenaeum Theatre #
09/25 – Baltimore, MD – Rams Head Live #
09/27 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer #
09/28 – New York, NY – Warsaw #
09/29 – New York, NY – Warsaw #
10/01 – Asbury Park, NJ – Stone Pony #
10/03 – Boston, MA – Big Night Live #
10/04 – Buffalo, NY – Electric City #
10/05 – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall #
10/06 – Detroit, MI – St. Andrew’s Hall #
10/08 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave #
10/09 – Minneapolis, MN – Uptown Theater #
10/10 – Chicago, IL – Metro #
10/11 – Chicago, IL – Metro #
10/13 – Las Vegas, NV – Best Friends Forever Festival
# w/ Smoking Popes
