Just For Kicks was a pop punk trio from Grand Rapids, MI through the late 1990's. Formed by cousins Derek Lancioni (drums) and Tony Carlson (guitar/vocals), along with Tony's Union High School Classmate Jeff Nanzer (bass/vocals). Picking up influences (and often "borrowing" riffs) from the likes of the Queers, Screeching Weasel, Mr. T Experience, Digger and others, they eventually made a serious mark on the Grand Rapids punk rock scene.

Biography

After honing their skills in Derek's basement bedroom in Grandville, MI, they played their first show with the Smocks in Duffy's Basement in 1996. After a slew of basement & garage shows with the likes of the Addictives, PR Stunt, Drive, and the Bounty Hunters, they decided to go into the studio to make their first cassette tape. Derek's uncle knew Chris Gooseman of 40 oz. Studios in Ann Arbor, so it seemed a good fit, and they began recording in the spring of 1997. Soon following, they did a tape release show in the basement of Vinyl Solution. The tape included the most polished songs the band had done yet, as well as an infectious acoustic track titled "Headphones."

Although they would release songs on various compilations, including a 4-way split with Hamilton, With Arms Still Empty and Malakhai, entitled the Forever Comp on Kill You For A Dollar Records, the tape would be their only full length release.

Growing tired of their pop punk stigma, JFK began writing more serious songs, with more intricate instrumentation and composition. Going into the studio again in 1999 with 5 songs, they realized that this batch was no longer Just For Kicks.

Renaming themselves Hunter Rose, and adding Yann Kerevel on guitar, the band started to play shows under the new moniker without an official "last show." Finally, JFK booked a final show at the Lexicon Club, and played just about every song they had, including covers by Green Day, Blink 182 and MxPx.

    • MORE INFO TO BE COMPILED SOON**

My memory is not as it used to be, and I will be digging into my backlog of stuff to make sure this page is as accurate as possible.

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