Stickup Kid – ‘Soul Drive’

Bands that are lucky enough to last through the years usually come to the point where they have to make a choice: do they continue making music that sounds like everything they’ve done in the past or do they try to mature their sound?

Stickup Kid, a pop punk band out of San Jose, have been around since 2009 and were pretty active in the scene until 2013 with the release of their last album, Future Fire. Friday May 3, 2019 marks the release of their new album, Soul Drive.

SUK 3

Over the past six years the band has grown up a lot as vocalist Tony Geravesh says, “After some success as teenagers, moving into adulthood and finishing college wasn’t a cake walk by any means. At some point, doing more than one thing in life is just impossible. We all had to place music aside to hash life out – we were all going through individual growing pains, and as friends and band mates, we struggled to see eye to eye. Eventually we broke through to the other side.”

The songs have a harder, more mature sound than their earlier efforts. It’s not enough of a change that will alienate their existing fans, as they have likely grown up and gone through similar life changes, and rites of passage, as the band. It will also attract new fans with the driving guitars (Bo McDowell / Curtis Wallace), solid rhythm from Jonathan McMaster’s complex bass lines and Cameron MacBain’s drums. The harmonies sound great and offer an impactful punctuation to the lyrics of the songs.

The lead-off single and title track, “Soul Drive” is a vibrant song with lyrics that deal with the band’s new found maturity; asking themselves if they are ready to take the next steps in life and continue ploughing forward, dealing with what comes next. My favorite song on the album, “Real Time” continues on that theme and demonstrates the band’s insight toward maturing and growing. They realize they can’t be 18 forever and are doing what they can to move along.

The album is available on vinyl via the band’s website and comes in three color variations: black, sunrise swirl and Disney puke splatter. Catch the band on a run of shows starting May 24 with special guests Glacier Veins and Till I Fall.

SUK 2