Something to Write Home About
Something to Write Home About is the second studio album by American rock band the Get Up Kids, released on September 28, 1999, through Vagrant Records and the band's own label Heroes & Villains Records. Following the promotional tours for their debut album Four Minute Mile (1997), the band were in discussion with Mojo Records. During this period, James Dewees joined as the band's keyboardist. As negotiations with the label eventually stalled, they eventually went with Vagrant Records. They recorded their next album at Mad Hatter Studios in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California, co-producing it with Chad Blinman and Alex Brahl. Described as an emo and pop-punk album, Something to Write Home About expands on the harder edge of its predecessor, with frontman Matt Pryor citing the works of the Foo Fighters, Jimmy Eat World and Wilco as influences.
For the Craig Morgan song, see Craig Morgan (album).Something to Write Home About
September 28, 1999
June–July 1999
Mad Hatter, Silverlake, California
45:26
Vagrant, Heroes & Villains
- The Get Up Kids
- Chad Blinman
- Alex Brahl
Something to Write Home About received generally favourable reviews from music critics, with many praising the songwriting, while others criticized the lyrics. The album was a commercial success, selling over 100,000 copies, and peaking at number 31 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart in the United States. The band promoted it with a European tour and a US tour with At the Drive-In until the end of 1999. "Action & Action" was released as the lead single from the album. Later that year, the band toured across Australia, Japan, Europe, ending with a headlining US tour; in early 2001 they supported Green Day and Weezer.
The success of Something to Write Home About made Vagrant Records one of the major players in the fledgling emo scene, attracting bands like Dashboard Confessional, Saves the Day, and Alkaline Trio to sign with the label. It is often cited as one of the best albums of the second-wave movement of emo, and is cited as an influence on third wave acts like Coheed & Cambria. Publications such as Kerrang!, LA Weekly and NME, among others, have included the album on best-of lists for the emo and pop-punk genres. It was re-released as a CD and DVD set in 2008, and has been re-pressed on vinyl in 2015 and 2016; the 2015 version charted at number 16 on the Billboard Vinyl Albums chart.
Background and writing[edit]
With the release of the Woodson EP in 1997, the Get Up Kids signed a two-album recording contract with independent label Doghouse Records.[1] In June 1997, the group went on a tour of the United States, on which they became friends with Coalesce.[2] Shortly afterwards, their drummer, James Dewees, moved in with the bassist Rob Pope and his brother, drummer Ryan Pope. When the Get Up Kids went on tour, Dewees would look after the apartment.[3] The group released their debut album, Four Minute Mile, in September 1997.[4] It was supported by American and European tours between September 1997 and May 1998. The group then went on a break and spent the next few months writing material for their next record.[2] Their next album, Four Minute Mile, sold over 40,000 copies, which attracted attention from various labels.[5]
The band, who wanted to leave Doghouse, began discussions with other labels, such as Geffen, Vagrant and Mojo Records.[6] Starting from December 1998, the group wrote a batch of new material as they were waiting for their deal with Mojo Records to be finalized.[2] The Pope brothers' apartment had a piano that Dewees would often play; while the group were practising a song at the apartment, Dewees showed them a vocal harmony and piano part he had come up with.[7] The group had wanted a keyboardist for sometime;[8] with Coalesce having gone on hiatus during this period, Dewees joined as their keyboard player.[2]
New label and recording[edit]
By April 1999, tired that the negotiations with Mojo Records had taken too long and eventually came to a halt, the band felt it wasn't the right time to be signing with a major.[2] Vocalist/guitarist Matthew Pryor later revealed that the label's founder Jay Rifkin wanted to treat the band as a new act, own the rights to their music publishing, in addition to being unwilling to buy the band out of their contract with Doghouse.[9] To get out of their Doghouse contract, the band recorded the Red Letter Day EP and forfeited the vinyl rights to their following album.[10][11] That same month, they formed their own record label, Heroes & Villains Records, which signed a deal with Vagrant Records, giving the latter rights to other acts signed to Heroes & Villains, which included the members' solo projects.[12] At the time, Vagrant was searching for a flagship band on which they could expand their business with.[5][2]
In June 1999, the band travelled from Kansas City, Missouri to Los Angeles, California to record their next album.[2] Before the group could start, Vagrant Records' co-owner Jon Cohen had to borrow money from his parents, who mortgaged their house in order to fund the sessions.[13] The album was recorded over the course of six weeks[5] in June and July 1999 at Mad Hatter Studios in Silver Lake, Los Angeles.[14] The band would spend the daytime at the studio and spend nights at a friend's house.[15] They produced the record themselves, with co-producers Chad Blinman and Alex Brahl, the latter of which did additional engineering. Blinman handled recording, while Dale Lawton served as an assistant. Blinman mixed the recordings, while the album was mastered by Ramon Breton at Oceanview Mastering.[14] Several of the songs included were re-recorded from past releases: "Red Letter Day" from the Red Letter Day EP, "Ten Minutes" on a 7" vinyl for the Sub Pop Singles Club and "I'm a Loner Dottie, a Rebel" for a split release with Braid.[16][17]
Composition and lyrics[edit]
Something to Write Home About is an emo[13] and pop-punk[13][18] album that takes influence from 1960s pop and 1980s new wave.[19] Ian Cohen of Stereogum described the album in the context of the band's contemporaries: "Braid and the Promise Ring were too quirky, Saves The Day hadn’t quite shed their hardcore origins, and Texas Is The Reason and Mineral were too artsy and esoteric". He added that Something to Write Home About "occup[ied] that perfect nexus between punk, emo, indie rock, and pure power-pop".[20] When making the album, the band tried to consciously expand their sound from the harder edge of Four Minute Mile. Pryor cites Wilco's Summerteeth (1999), Jimmy Eat World's Clarity (1999) and the Foo Fighters' The Colour and the Shape as primary influences in writing new material. While the group had toyed with keyboards on Four Minute Mile, they incorporated more of it with the inclusion of Dewees into the band. According to Pryor, they had been listening to Weezer a lot and wanted more synthesizer parts, with Dewees being "such a talented piano player, he just sort of upped the ante."[13] Dewees' keyboard parts recalled the work of Duran Duran, which PopMatters music critic Dave Meehan said "provide a melodic counterpoint to [...] Suptic's thrashing and give the whole album a party-like-its-1983 feel".[19]
Pryor also began to branch out lyrically, including on “Red Letter Day,” which was written about the bands’ negative experiences with Dirk Hemsmath and Doghouse Records.[20][21] In writing the album, the band was also more conscious of traditional pop song structure, focusing more on hooks and placing less emphasis on long instrumental sections.[22] Ryan Pope made a conscious effort to restrain his drum parts on the album, emulating Charlie Watts and Jim Keltner, stating that it was more "important to maybe make some sacrifices for the tune instead of pounding away and thinking of yourself as an individual player."[23] Pryor would later remark that he wished the songs were tuned a half-step or a whole step down as he was yelling at the top of his vocal range throughout the album.[15]
The album's title, Something to Write Home About, was suggested by Suptic.[15] The opening fast-paced track "Holiday" starts with a guitar pick slide; Meehan said "Action and Action" was "another done-me-wrong, finger-pointing tale".[24][19] Niko Stratis of Spin referred to "Valentine" as a "perfect snapshot of the way any distance, emotional or physical, feels oceanic in scope".[25] The acoustic "Out of Reach" crescendos into a piano-led torch song.[26] The power pop song "Ten Minutes" is a homage to be stuck in traffic on the way to a lover's residence, and features Suptic on lead vocals.[19][26][27] "The Company Dime" features call-and-response vocals during the chorus sections; "My Apology" is a mid-tempo song.[19] "I'm a Loner Dottie, a Rebel" discusses the aftermath of a one-night stand, while its title is a quote from Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985).[5][19] The country-esque "Close to Home" is followed by the album's closing song "I'll Catch You"; the latter opens with a piano part and sees a person talking with someone they admire.[19][24]
Commercial performance and legacy[edit]
Commercial performance[edit]
Something to Write Home About charted at number 31 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart.[66] By 2002, the album had sold 150,000 copies.[67] In 2015, it charted at number 16 on the Billboard Vinyl Albums chart.[68] The album's success was the first major breakthrough for Vagrant Records, and made the Get Up Kids the label's "flagship band", attracting other artists to sign with the company.[69]
Legacy and influence[edit]
The album has appeared on many best-of lists for the emo and pop-punk genres, by publications such as LA Weekly,[70] Junkee,[71] NME,[72] and On the A Side,[73] as well as by journalists Leslie Simon and Trevor Kelley in their book Everybody Hurts: An Essential Guide to Emo Culture (2007).[74] Similarly, "Action & Action" appeared on a best-of emo songs list by Vulture.[75] Spin featured both “I’ll Catch You” and “Valentine” on its list of the 40 best Emo love songs of all time.[25] In 2014, as part of 10-year celebrations for Riot Fest, the band performed the album in its entirety.[76] In 2015, Rock Sound included it in their 101 Modern Classics list at number 97.[77] They later ranked it at number 102 on the list of best albums in their lifetime.[78] Kerrang! listed ‘’Something to Write Home About’’ as the 19th greatest pop-punk album of all time, and the 42nd best punk album of all time.[79][80]
Something to Write Home About is credited with establishing Vagrant Records as an emo music industry powerhouse.[64][81] Acts such as Dashboard Confessional, Saves the Day, and Alkaline Trio all signed to the label because of the album's success.[82][20] The album has been viewed as an important release for the second wave of emo, and an influence on the third wave of acts, such as Coheed & Cambria, while Dan Campbell of the Wonder Years has expressed admiration for it.[67][83][84]