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Problems

by The Get Up Kids

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1.
by myself I don’t think anybody else even cares if all is well you’re only thinking of yourself it’s a long way down for me the satellite orbiting the world alone tell me I’m coming home by myself I don’t think anybody knows I’m even here but do tell you think you understand my fears it’s a long way down for me the satellite orbiting the world alone tell me I’m coming home to be the satellite knowing I’m the only one after all’s said and done
2.
after the hours we spent at the interpass two liars fooling themselves they could make it last desperate to alter the course of our history could it be maybe the problem is me am I doomed to always repeat over and over again I’m working hard not to throw you under the bus this island’s really too small for the both of us you keep the keys to the house and I can shuffle off and away could it be maybe the problem is me am I doomed to always repeat over and over again I can see the writing you don’t want to read I’m safely in some other scene where everyone knows my name
3.
Salina 04:38 video
it would be raining today the storm rolled in right as you left could just drink it away we both know that’s not the best stare at the clock for hours but the time won’t seem to pass it’s when the house is quiet I’m just in my own head sentimental fool who writes all these words for you even though it’s just two hours away just an observation It’s rare that this occurs somehow it feels so different tables have been turned if I were at the airport and if you were in our bed I wouldn’t be excited but I’d be less frightened sentimental fool who writes all these words for you even though it’s just two hours away so I try remembering you’re coming back to me and all will be forgotten in a day the day is finally over and the night is closing in it’s like it takes forever for the world to still spin
4.
Now Or Never 03:05
the tick of a clock brings the work to a stop for the day the sound of a disgruntled crowd standing in my way I used to be outgoing and carefree but not today, not today I quietly sit as my thoughts start to drift and divide I’ve come to admit that I’ve lost my one place to hide I used to be outgoing and carefree a spark in conversation that keeps things interesting tonight we only have now or never our indifference is a sickness we caught together how much of this can you endure ‘cause I can’t take it anymore I wanna hear you say that it’s for sure it seems to me, avoiding tragedy is easier for someone that’s got no place to be tonight, we only have now or never our indifference is a sickness we caught together
5.
I saw Lou Barlow on the street I don’t think he noticed me I started humming all his songs you refused to sing along I told you time and time again this is not just play pretend I thought forever meant forever but sometimes people change If I don’t feel the same we’re not where we belong so many places we could go I just wanted you to know put this all into perspective a pond is not the sea and I would burn this town to embers if you ever asked but if this doesn’t last those years in the trash we’re not where we belong hours and hours before the fight we have every other night you looked me in the eyes and said maybe this should be the end we’re not where we belong I saw Lou Barlow on the street I don’t think he noticed me
6.
ride it out into the setting sun signalling the chapter has begun any doubt falls beneath my boot as if I can’t suffer all of you fairweather friends will say all good days just fade away to those fools I say stay out shout it out songs we used to sing no one gives a damn for anything any doubt the world is still a lie maybe I should just lay down and die fairweather friends will say all good days just fade away to those fools I say yesterday’s just yesterday fairweather friends will stay stay out
7.
one day the kids will have a clue they can fill you in research would have taken hours walking backwards just to get to your present where you might find common ground all your old friends scared of the end maybe I’ll write a dissertation or keep it to myself seems it’s shorter every year what we’re calling generations it’s almost to the hour do you remember when old man stay quiet it’s not your time way out I know time to let go who said it lasts forever these words play on long since I’ve gone It’s heavy on my soul last night I tried for the last time
8.
I can’t stop thinking that there was something that I needed to do you can’t get mad at me, when my body doesn’t work the way my brain asked it to so good on ya you thought I forgot her I just need a reminder, of what you do to me now everything that’s anything is fine no it never gets easier waking up alone now my sentimental heart is growing cold oh there I go again I would hate it if I ruined the surprise I get myself in trouble for cold stares I’d have to say that you win the prize I need to know what you do to me now everything that’s anything is fine no it never gets easier, waking up alone now my sentimental heart is growing cold no it never gets easier I guess I should have known that you can’t stop what is out of your control no you can’t stop what you don’t know oh ces’t la vie mon ami we never have to apologize for the lies that we use to survive is it me or do we have to make an excuse every time that we get to this point in our life oh ces’t la vie mon ami we never have to apologize for the lies that we use to survive is it me or do we have to make an excuse every time we get to this point no it never gets easier waking up alone now my sentimental heart is growing cold no it never gets easier I guess I should have known that you can’t stop what is out of your control
9.
The Advocate 03:12
it’s not your battle yet one day it might be I will be an advocate please don’t be the enemy if you do forget what it was like when you felt so alone one act they need to see arms around whoever you may be no matter who attacks I’ll always have your back like you would have for me you live inside a speck a ship lost out to sea you may not get respect from your own community I wish I could protect but really I just can’t save anyone one act they need to see arms around whoever you may be no matter who attacks i’ll always have your back like you would have for me
10.
an instrument of good intent a virtue left revealing noble acts replace the fact that some things are worth stealing push it all away get back to the process imitate obey listen for delay the champions will take their place I used to be good once but now I get nervous I used to be good once used to be gorgeous argumental dissidents a lesson loses meaning information gone astray now seeing is believing give it all away get back to the process imitate obey listen for delay the champions will take their place I used to be good once but now I get nervous I used to be good once, used to be gorgeous it’s just a symphony of silence, medicated by science it goes on and on and on and on and on I used to be anything I used to be I used to be good once but now I get nervous I used to be good once used to be gorgeous it’s just a symphony of silence medicated by science I used to be good once
11.
Brakelines 02:21
impossible outcomes there’s an outside chance you may not want to fight them bob and weave in their dance I’m not gonna tell you that my mind doesn’t go there it’s the terrible trouble about getting older If this isn’t my time then cutting the brakelines seems to make some sort of sense I don’t wanna have to I don’t wanna leave you it does us no good to pretend it’s not about hopeless not a song of despair just about choices and making them fair hope we never have to decisions like this spend every morning in ignorant bliss terrified keeps me up at night
12.
is this house a home the photographs lay on the floor time goes by so slow every day that I’m waiting I’m pleading a praying just take it away don’t take it away I don’t know what to do with these pieces of you I can’t breath from the weight as I’m trying to say I don’t want your ghost to be gone once I heard you say you only want me to be happy but how could I be when I’m lying awake In the bed that we made and the walls seem to whisper they whisper your name and I still hear your voice as it cuts through the noise I’m sure that you’re safe but you know that I can’t say goodbye can’t throw away that last pieces of you because if I do you’re really be gone

about

On their new album Problems—their first full-length in eight years—The Get Up Kids examine everything from life-changing loss to loneliness to the inevitable anxiety of existing in 2019. But by sustaining the essence of their sound—anthemic choruses with sing-along-ready melodies—the band highlights those troubles as a shared experience, giving way to an unbreakable solidarity. And at the heart of Problems is an invaluable element the band’s embodied since their 1997 debut Four Minute Mile: a penetrating lyricism that’s both acutely introspective and indelibly resonant.

The follow-up to 2018’s Kicker EP, Problems came to life in Bridgeport, Connecticut, with the band holing up together for a three-week span. Working with Grammy Award-winning producer Peter Katis (Kurt Vile, Japandroids, The National), The Get Up Kids took a characteristically riff-driven yet decidedly pop-minded approach to song structure, while also allowing themselves a new sense of creative freedom. “At one point with this band, if we came up with something that felt too much like when we first started out, we would’ve said, ‘No, we can’t do that anymore,’” says Pryor. “These days we’ve learned how to write without roadblocking the ideas that come naturally to us.”

Kicking off with lead single “Satellite,” Problems opens on a stark arrangement of acoustic guitar and stripped-bare vocals, then bursts into brightly crashing rhythms and lyrics revealing the time-bending quality of The Get Up Kids’ songwriting. “I started writing ‘Satellite’ about my son who’s 14 and a total introvert—not antisocial, he just genuinely likes to keep to himself,” says Pryor. “But then somewhere down the line I started singing about myself—about how even when you’re playing a show to a room full of people, I can still feel anxious and isolated.”

Throughout Problems, The Get Up Kids again prove themselves attuned to the nuance of highly specific emotions, and ultimately validate the messiest and most nebulous of feelings. On the joyfully swinging, piano-heavy “The Problem Is Me,” for instance, the band explores the notion of embracing your own romantic dysfunction, while “Salina” captures a small moment of melancholy with sweeping intensity and sprawling guitar work. Later, on “Your Ghost Is Gone,” The Get Up Kids deliver a gently devastating piano ballad sparked from an instrumental piece Dewees wrote soon after his mother’s death.

Through the years, The Get Up Kids have purposely pushed themselves toward previously unexplored songwriting material. “I’m 41 now, I could never write a song like when I was 19—all those ‘I miss my girlfriend’ kind of songs,” Suptic says. “It’s always important to us to write about wherever we are right now.” As shown on Problems, the resulting output both preserves the beloved spirit of The Get Up Kids and creates an entirely new context for their music. “A big part of the reason why we started writing new songs in the first place is that we have things we want to say about this moment in time,” says Pryor. “We’re still so connected to our past and where this all came from—it’s definitely a celebration of the fact that we still get to do this.”

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released May 10, 2019

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