Love Keeps Kicking

Love Keeps Kicking
Studio album by Martha
Released	April 5, 2019 (2019-04-05)
Recorded	2018–2019
Genre	Indie rock pop punk indie punk
Length	37:07
Label	Big Scary Monsters (UK/EU) Dirtnap (US)
Martha chronology
Blisters in the Pit of My Heart (2016) Love Keeps Kicking (2019) Please Don't Take Me Back (2022)

Love Keeps Kicking is the third studio album by the English band Martha. It was originally released on 5 April 2019 by Big Scary Monsters in the UK/EU and Dirtnap Records in the US.

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	80/100 [1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
The 405	8/10 [2]
AllMusic	[3]
Clash	8/10 [4]
DIY	[5]
Exclaim!	7/10 [6]
The Line of Best Fit	7.5/10 [7]
NME	[8]
The Skinny	[9]

Release

Martha released the album's first single, "Heart Is Healing", in December 2018, followed by the album's lead single, "Love Keeps Kicking", in January 2019. The album's third single, "Into This", was released in February 2019. ^{[10] [11]}

Around the album's release, the band received profiles from major music and culture magazines Rolling Stone and NME . ^{[12] [13]}

The title of "Wrestlemania VIII" references the WWE's signature event Wrestlemania. The title track has a line that refers to someone moshing to the American band Huey Lewis and the News. ^[13]

"Mini Was A Preteen Arsonist" is named in reference to the Against Me! song "I Was A Teenage Anarchist", ^[13] and is lyrically based on the true story of Michael ‘Mini’ Cooper as seen in the documentary Mini directed by Franc Roddam. ^[14]

Tracks "The Void" and "Lucy Shone a Light on You" are both part of a narrative started on "The Ballad of Lucy Connor (Part 1)" — a track from their first EP — with the former being parts of a story written by the titular character that is referenced in the latter. ^[15]

Track listing

All music is composed by Martha.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Heart Is Healing"	3:09
2.	"Sight for Sore Eyes"	3:45
3.	"Into This"	3:12
4.	"Wrestlemania VIII"	1:48
5.	"Mini Was a Preteen Arsonist"	3:23
6.	"Love Keeps Kicking"	3:53
7.	"Brutalism by the River (Arrhythmia)"	2:37
8.	"Orange Juice"	4:09
9.	"The Void"	3:12
10.	"Lucy Shone a Light on You"	4:17
11.	"The Only Letter That You Kept"	3:42
Total length:		37:07

Personnel

• J.C. Cairns – vocals, guitar
• Daniel Ellis – vocals, guitar
• Naomi Griffin – vocals, bass
• Nathan Stephens-Griffin – vocals, drums

References

1. "Metacritic Review". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
2. Hakimian, Rob (18 April 2019). "The 405 review". The 405 . Retrieved 7 June 2019.
3. Thomas, Fred (5 April 2019). "AllMusic Review". AllMusic . Retrieved 17 April 2019.
4. "Clash Review". Clash . 2 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
5. Richards, Will (5 April 2019). "DIY Review". DIY . Retrieved 17 April 2019.
6. Gormley, Ian (4 April 2019). "Exclaim! Review". Exclaim! . Retrieved 17 April 2019.
7. Lynch, Ben (2 April 2019). "Line of Best Fit review". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
8. Hunt, El (5 April 2019). "NME Review". NME . Retrieved 17 April 2019.
9. Turner-Heffer, Adam (4 April 2019). "The Skinny Review". The Skinny . Retrieved 17 April 2019.
10. Murray, Robin (13 December 2018). "Listen: Martha - 'Heart Is Healing'". Clash . Retrieved 17 April 2019.
11. Rettig, James (28 January 2019). "Martha – "Love Keeps Kicking"". Stereogum . Retrieved 28 January 2019.
12. Connick, Tom (21 March 2019). "Durham posi-punks Martha take on the 'dreadful state of the world' on 'The Void'". NME . Retrieved 17 April 2019.
13. Bernstein, Jonathan (11 April 2019). "Martha Are Building a Better World Through Pop-Punk". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 17 April 2019.
14. Simpson, Peter (24 April 2019). "Martha's JC Cairns on Love Keeps Kicking". The Skinny . Retrieved 20 May 2025.
15. Bell, Richard (27 April 2019). "Martha (The VH Interview)". Vulture Hound. Retrieved 1 May 2019.