The Get Up Kids - These Are Rules
Back after quite a long break, the Get Up Kids actually released an E.P. last year to test the waters, to see if there was still a market for a band who, at the end of their last run, had become something of a punchline. At the forefront of the indie/emo movement of the late nineties, the GUKs went from stripped down, emotional and confessional to being a bit of a parody of themselves. Not growing with their fanbase the way contemporaries like Jimmy Eat World had.
On the new record one thing is clear from the gate; The GUKs are here to say “We are no longer your little sisters favorite band”. The sound is hungrier, the delivery is definitely more fierce. The question is, does it work?
Well, for my tastes it doesn’t completely fail. There is a lot to like here. Some great melodies and vocal lines and some blistering guitar lines. Some songs even hint at some faux electro pop and funk. A big mark against them here is the production. It almost seems like self sabotage some of the time. Songs will start with the promise of a great melody, and while it’s there it seems buried under layers of ear splitting treble-heavy noise. If you can get past that, you’ll find some buried treasures in the white noise.
I have to compliment the fuzzy bass work on tracks like “Pararelevant”, as well the blunt chunk of “Better Lie”. The opener is a blistering one as well, boldly proclaiming “We’ve gotten over it! Sadness is for chumps!”
I’ll be interested in seeing if they stick around this time.
