The Get Up Kids - SImple Science

Flyover
2010

So last night I was at the Bourgeois Pig drinking some fine whiskey. Somehow my friend Quinton and I were talking to the bartender about the Get Up Kids and he showed this new EP to the two of us. I was like "wow, I had no idea the Get Up Kids made a new EP." Indeed, it has been a long time since these guys put out anything, what with Rob Pope being all cool in Spoon and Matt Pryor writing kids songs. I don't even know what the other three dudes are up to. I was riding through downtown Eudora a week ago and saw that the Black Lodge Recording Studio was for sale. I guess that was a bust. oh well.

So about this EP-basically, this EP sounds alot like Guilt Show. I mean the songs are laid out the same for the most part. The first song, "Your Petty Pretty Things," has that same drum beat as pretty much all of the songs on Guilt Show do. The guitar parts sound pretty much the same too. I guess Matt Pryor and Jim Suptic decided to use a little more distortion. Most of the songs here sound a little more grungy and not as clean as on Guilt Show. I guess what surprised me the most was how similar these 4 songs sound to Guilt Show, even though that album came out like what, 6 years ago? And forget comparing this stuff to Four Minute Mile and Something to Write Home About, this shit's still way toned down. It's like after On A Wire was released and Matt Pryor started the New Amsterdams, the Get Up Kids became more restrained and more of a pop band. Not that that's a bad thing, but I'm sure some of us miss the high-energy stuff that this band, and many many others made so popular back in the late 90's/early 2000's.

So I've listened to this thing twice today, trying to figure out how I feel about it. My computer is fucked up, so I've listened to this shit at home since it won't recognize my iPod for some reason. Thanks Apple! I can't really think of anything else other than comparing it to their last record, since they sound so similar. It's not bad, it's listenable. This thing is just kindof, well, boring. It doesn't really go anywhere. Who knows, I may listen to it more in the coming weeks and change my mind, but for now this thing just kindof makes me go "meh".

Three out of five steering wheels.

-Sam