These Kansas kids are all right. Even though we last heard them on a

Pixies tribute compilation, they're really the sons of Superchunk.

Now that Superchunk have largely shed their coat of distortion, amplification

and screamed, cathartic vocals, the Get Up Kids have wasted no time in

trying it on and refashioning it in a way that looks good on them. From

the rocking opener "Holiday" (RealAudio

excerpt) to the more sober album-closer "Ten Minutes" (RealAudio

excerpt), the Kids never let tempo or noise get in the way of a

good melody, and the lyrics are full of angst in the best angry-and-bitter

rock 'n' roll tradition (e.g., the opening lines of "Holiday": "What

became of everyone I used to know?/ Where did our respectable convictions

go?/ Your words don't match the story that your actions show/ but what

do I know?"). On "Holiday," as on other songs, the guitars bite and

lick your wounds.

The group's musicians are at their best when they are at their loveliest,

and on "Out of Reach" (RealAudio

excerpt) they venture into full-fledged ballad territory, complete

with an acoustic guitar, lovely harmonies and "ahh-ahh-ahh" background

vocals. I guess "Out of Reach" is to "Holiday" what Poison's "Every Rose

Has its Thorn" is to "Nothin' But a Good Time" — a sad and somber

song for all the sensitive boys (and the girls who love them).

The Kids are certainly not purveyors of bubble-punk in the same mold as

Green Day or Blink-182, but they never forget the sheer pleasure that the

right sequence of notes or the perfect harmony brings.