The Get Up Kids

A lot's happened since The Get Up Kids 1999’s big-hooked, shout-along classic, Something To Write Home About was released via Vagrant Records—The Get Up Kids dissolved and Vagrant learned to speak languages beyond adolescent yearning. No longer “kids,” TGUK have reconvened for their first album in seven years, There Are Rules, released on their own Quality Hill Records imprint. The new record shows that the band isn’t content to use the same formula from previous records. Instead, There Are Rules is infused with elements of electronica that bubble underneath the band’s anthemic rock. Synths burble on poppier tracks like “Shatter Your Lungs” and “Birmingham,” while “Keith Case” veers towards krautrock. While it doesn’t reach the epic heights of TGUK’s past efforts, the new record reveals a band willing to push itself and not just coast on nostalgia.

Updated 01/27/2011