Few records have hit me with the same immediate and enduring affection as Diiv’s Oshin. That record’s blend of post punk, shoegaze, Krautrock, and surf rock hit me like a truck full of bricks at first listen, and remains one of the richest albums in my collection with every repeated listen.
So it might seem odd that I didn’t devour their sophomore album, Is The Is Are, with as much voraciousness.
But that error is all mine, because the sophomore record takes the same elements and stretches them to fit an ambitious double album that is far more personal while remaining just as alluring.
The seeds of my rediscovery of the Get Up Kids were planted in 2019. I was writing for a music review site, and the site owner messaged me asking if I was ever into the Get Up Kids, because they had a new album coming out and he needed someone to review it. I said that I listened to them a little bit, but wasn’t a superfan. He said, “that’s better than anyone else,” and sent me Problems. 
Over the years, I have stated publicly and often that I missed the Get Up Kids when I was in the throes of my emo phase. Most publicly, on the 
