Did Get Up Kids singer Matt Pryor know that Something to Write Home About would go on to be such an important album?

Anybody who says that they were making an “important” album is either an idiot or an asshole. You’re just trying to make a good record. How it’s interpreted throughout history is not up to you at all. It’s completely up to everyone else. I don’t know that what we did is important. I’ve been told by lots of people that they like it and some of those people are in successful bands but most of them aren’t.

My earliest music memory is of being a six-year-old in a U-Haul van. My family was moving to San Antonio, and we had just hit the reemergence of civilization from in between the hundreds of miles of nothing that Texas is famous for. My mom turned on the radio and I remember hearing and loving Maneater by Hall and Oates. I was just a dumb kid that didn’t really understand how the radio worked, so I sat there expecting to hear the song play again relatively soon after. It didn’t. Bummer.

That memory came flooding back to me as I listened to The Bird and the Bee’s Interpreting the Masters tribute to ol’ H and O. That chick’s voice is fantastic. It seems like her voice wouldn’t be strong enough to hit certain notes — but when she does, it’s a delightful surprise.

Hey, you know how you can tell I’m getting old? I say shit like “delightful surprise.”

Read the rest of this week’s Old and Jaded.

:: Braid will be releasing a new album sometime this year. High school nostalgia wins again!

:: Speaking of high school nostalgia, Krazy Fest is back.

:: If you’re down for even more high school nostalgia, you can win a Get Up Kids prize pack.

:: As for pre-Crystal Pepsi nostalgia, Diamond Dave is back in the studio with Van Halen.

:: David Byrne mentioned meeting Will Oldham last time he was in Louisville. That seems to have blossomed into an interesting musical collaboration, as they’ll score a Sean Penn film together.

:: If you’re getting a badge for SXSW this year, be sure to come watch me make a fool of myself as I pretend to know something about the internet and/or metal.

:: Oh yeah, back to that high school nostalgia.

:: Random tracks that don’t suck:

:: It’s nice to see Shel Silverstein can bring together Bobby Bare Jr. and Bobby Bare Sr. Oh yeah, and My Morning Jacket, Andrew Bird, Dr. Dog and Black Francis, among others.

:: At least the Vatican isn’t too butt hurt about that whole “bigger than Jesus” thing with The Beatles these days. Yes, that is ripe for distasteful jokes.

:: Not only do we get a Simple Science EP from The Get Up Kids; we get three Simple Science EPs this year. According to the band, most of the songs were recorded live, directly onto two-inch tape.

:: I remember listening to Make It Easy on Yourself and the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid soundtrack when I was about 13 pretty endlessly on vinyl. I took a lot of crap for it, until cool people started saying Burt Bacharach was awesome. Now you can add Jim O’Rourke, Glenn Kotche to that list. Sweet, sweet vindication.

:: Crime in Stereo played The Troubled Stateside in its entirety, and there’s some video documentation.

:: Are you heading up to NXNE? If so, I’m jealous. I’m buying a house tomorrow, so no trips to the Great White North for a little while.

There’s been word of new material from The Get Up Kids for a little while now, but today the band gave the first bit of concrete info on what will be a four-song EP that will apparently see a plethora of self-released vinyl colors in addition to a CD. Details are still scant at this point, but the Kids promise to keep everyone updated:

The Simple Science EP is our first new recording in 6 years!!!! The 4 song EP is going to come out in April on limited, numbered and several different colors of 12” vinyl as well as a CD that we are releasing ourselves. It will be available exclusively for download with Itunes. We’ll keep you in the loop once we set a release date.

The Get Up Kids – Your Petty Pretty Things

Kevin Devine is one of those dudes who seems like he should be huge. Sure, he’s had some buzz in the last year or so, but it’s really not commensurate with his potential. He has that rare combination of teeny bopper/Alt. Press appeal (i.e. the ability to make money) and the chops that attract indie kids and people with, you know, actual taste (which will get you respect). Plus I personally like the dude more because of his relentless DIY work ethic, which he takes to an extreme.

Even when Devine was opening up for The Get Up Kids on their reunion tour — which likely paid well enough to afford him at least a few luxuries, or the ability to bring along a tour manager or some road companion to help along the way — he handled merch sales by himself and did all his own PR. Here’s what he recently told Spinner about being in the driver seat:

I do wear a lot of different hats. The hat where I’m arguing with a club promoter about the catering budget then where I’m playing his club for 90 minutes, well, those hats don’t always look good together. But I get to exist in a way that feels comfortable and not separated from reality.

Kevin Devine – I Could Be With Anyone
Kevin Devine – Wolf’s Mouth

During their recent Daytrotter session, The Get Up Kids revealed that they’ve recorded nine songs for a potential new album. However, they don’t seem to have any concrete timetable regarding an actual release.

Along with that news and the usual Daytrotter stuff, the Kids recorded one of those new songs, Your Petty Pretty Things. It’s definitely a Get Up Kids song, and it bodes well for the new material. We might not end up with Something to Write Home About: Part Two, but that’s OK. I’ll take what I can get.

The Get Up Kids – Your Petty Pretty Things

Does the following tweet from The Get Up Kids belie a new album?

we did a daytrotter session. should launch the 21st. 1 new song + dottie, overdue and a vitreous humor song. can’t wait for the painting.

Can’t wait to hear this Daytrotter session. Can’t wait.

For better or worse, band reunions are happening at a faster pace than at any other time, perhaps due to the internet recreating interest on formerly-defunct artists’ discographies. Or it could be the bad economy. Musicians have to eat, too, you know.

And since these times of break-up unrest are so confusing, Buzzgrinder has decided to make it easier on you by keeping a running tab of who’s back together. That way, you can pay way too much to see them live.

See the plethora of band reunions that have been announced thus far.

For a limited time on MySpace, you can watch The Get Up Kids‘ Liberty Hall show from March 2008 that’s featured on the Something to Write Home About 10th anniversary reissue.

Still trying to decide on whether I can make either of their Chicago date. Is anyone else going to see them on this run?

The Get Up Kids – Holiday