Something to Write Home About is the second studio album by American emo 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 album, Something to Write Home About branches out from the harder edge of its predecessor, with frontman Matt Pryor citing the works of the Foo Fighters, Jimmy Eat World and Wilco as influences.

Something to Write Home About received generally favourable reviews from music critics, with many praising the songwriting. 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 With the release of the Woodson EP in 1997, the Get Up Kids signed a two-album recording contract with independent label Doghouse Records.Shea 2009, event occurs at 2:48–55 In June 1997, the group went on a tour of the United States, on which they became friends with Coalesce. 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.Shea 2009, event occurs at 1:19:03–4, 1:19:31–5 The group released their debut album, Four Minute Mile, in September 1997. 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. Four Minute Mile, sold over 40,000 copies, which attracted attention from various labels.

The band, who wanted to leave Doghouse, began discussions with other labels, such as Geffen, Vagrant and Mojo Records.Shea 2009, event occurs at 1:26:40–47, 1:28:10–2, 1:28:14–5 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. 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.Shea 2009, event occurs at 1:19:39–42, 1:21:00–8 The group had wanted a keyboardist for sometime;Shea 2009, event occurs at 1:21:29–31 with Coalesce having gone on hiatus during this period, Dewees joined as their keyboard player.

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. 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.Shea 2009, event occurs at 1:28:16–34, 1:30:01–7 To get out of their Doghouse contract, the band recorded the Red Letter Day EP and forfeited the vinyl rights to their following album.Shea 2009, event occurs at 1:31:12–6, 1:31:25–6 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.Shea 2009, event occurs at 1:32:6–14 At the time, Vagrant was searching for a flagship band on which they could expand their business with.

Recording and production In June 1999, the band travelled from Kansas City, Missouri to Los Angeles, California to record their next album. 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. The album was recorded over the course of six weeks in June and July 1999 at Mad Hatter Studios in Silver Lake, Los Angeles. The band would spend the daytime at the studio and spend nights at a friend's house. 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. 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.Heisel; Simpson 2016, event occurs at 50:59–51:01, 52:22–30

Music and lyrics Something to Write Home About is an emo and pop-punk album that takes influence from 1960s pop and 1980s new wave. 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". 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." 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". The album incorporates quiet-loud dynamics and sing-along choruses. The tracks have been described as "energetic bursts of emotional angst."

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. 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. 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." 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. The staff of Kerrang! called it "a formidable open wound of a record."

The album's title, Something to Write Home About, was suggested by Suptic. 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". Niko Stratis of Spin referred to "Valentine" as a "perfect snapshot of the way any distance, emotional or physical, feels oceanic in scope". The acoustic "Out of Reach" crescendos into a piano-led torch song. 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. "The Company Dime" features call-and-response vocals during the chorus sections; "My Apology" is a mid-tempo song. "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). 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.

Release and promotion In August and September 1999, the group went on a European tour; the tour was planned to last a month, however, the group only got to play six shows over eight days. Following this, the band appeared at the CMJ MusicFest. Something to Write Home About was released on September 28 through Vagrant and Heroes & Villains Records. The vinyl version was released through Doghouse Records. The Japanese version included "Forgive and Forget" and a cover of "Regret" by New Order as bonus tracks, while the European version featured included a re-recorded version of "Forgive and Forget" and "Central Standard Time" (taken from a split with the Anniversary). The album's artwork is a painting that depicts two robots cuddling on a sofa. In October and November, the group went on a US tour with At the Drive-In. A music video was released for "Action & Action" through music retailer Insound in December 1999.

In February 2000, the Get Up Kids played a one-off show in Kansas before embarking on a Japanese tour. The band then went on a tour of Australia with Jebediah in March and April. The album was released through Epitaph Europe in Europe on March 13. "Action & Action" was released as a single on March 24 in Europe with a demo of "I'm a Loner Dottie, I'm a Rebel" and a cover of The Cure's "Close to Me" as B-sides. The group went on a European tour in May and June with the Anniversary. In September and October, the band went on a headlining US tour with support from the Anniversary, Koufax and Jebediah. It was sponsored by the peer-to-peer file sharing network Napster, who had helped people discover the band and other Vagrant Records' acts. In January 2001, the group supported Green Day on their US tour, before supporting Weezer in February and March.

Reissues

In 2008, Pryor said that the group was in discussions with Vagrant Records to re-release the album as a 10th anniversary package, including a DVD and photo booklet. In February 2009, Doghouse Records re-pressed the album on vinyl. The 10th anniversary edition was released on September 8, which included a DVD with a recording of their first show in a few years and a documentary on the making of the album. In addition, it included 7 downloadable demo recordings from the sessions. Doghouse has since re-pressed the album on vinyl twice more, in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

Critical reception