There always seems to be two groups of kids on a playground — those who play together in the big groups, and the other kids who dwell on the outskirts and do their own thing. Well, when some of those “other kids” come of age, they form bands like Duck and Cover.

Some people never grow up. The four band members, half of whom are still in high school, sit in the basement of their drummer’s parents’ house, finishing off a 480-count bag of grape Frooties as they tell how they came together two years ago.

“Their original guitarist, [Daily staff writer] Jeff Mitchell, whom I was trying to get to play bass in my lousy band, knew these two 15-year-old kids that he was starting a band with and he wanted me to play bass,” says bassist Jordan Jensen, junior in computer science. “They wanted to call the band the Flaming Youth, and that’s when I knew I wasn’t going to join them. That and the age difference bothered me.”

Obviously, despite Jensen’s reluctance, he did concede in the end.

“I ended up joining them anyways because they really needed a bass player, but we called ourselves Duck and Cover,” he says. “When Jeff got the job at the Daily, he didn’t have time for practice anymore, so we let him go.”

The trading of Mitchell for guitarist Bryan Conley isn’t the only lineup change Duck and Cover has undergone.

The Veishea Battle of the Bands marked Duck and Cover’s last show with its long-time vocalist, Tom Kuphal, junior in speech communication.

“Tom is a youth pastor and that’s really important to him,” Jensen says. “We knew it’d come down to his career or the band.”

However, the primary reasons had less to do with moral differences and more to do with significant events Kuphal was encountering.

“It’s not like he didn’t want to [stay in the band],” says guitarist Keith Rich. “He just got a fiancee and an internship around the same time and didn’t have time.”

Duck and Cover has not only experienced transformation in its members, but in its musical style as well.

“Last year we would’ve scoffed at being called a pop-punk band … but it still would’ve been true,” Jensen says. “Now, it’s seriously mostly melodic hardcore.”

As was the case with Kuphal and Mitchell, time seems to be something the band members consistently lack, which comes with advantages as well as handicaps.

“I think the key is that we never hang out,” Conley says. “The only time we see each other is at practice and concerts, so we never have time to get mad at each other.”

Keeping a sense of humor is another way Duck and Cover has managed to keep from getting discouraged.

“Most bands bicker and have one guy that thinks he’s the most important,” Jensen says with a smirk on his face. “We don’t have that problem — everyone knows I’m the most important.”

Countering his ego, Jensen comments on his limited writing abilities.

“I just suck at songwriting,” he laughs. “The only way I’m ever going to make it is on somebody else’s coattails.”

The burden of fashioning the band’s lyrics has been wisely placed on the most overlooked and passive member, drummer Parker Griggs, who remains almost entirely mute during the length of the conversation.

One can only wonder what sorts of songs are being concocted in his mind, while his mouth is stuffed with Frooties.

“He doesn’t have much time to write,” Jensen pipes up, answering Griggs’ question for him.

“He’s trying to kick his Frooties addiction.”

Who: Blood Brothers, A’Kimbo, Duck and Cover, Swing by Seven

Where: Vaudeville Mews, 212 Fourth St., Des Moines

When: 6 p.m., May 6

Cost: $8