Pretty Punk-Pop
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.