The Get Up Kids - 'Guilt Show' (Vagrant)
4/5
By: Matt Tomiak
Feel-good emo? Isn't that an oxymoron?
The Get Up Kids wouldn't say so. Thirteen doses of musical uppers, the Kansas fivesome's fourth album proves soul-bearing lyrical honesty doesn't always have to end in tears.
Celebratory, infectious and consistently tuneful, this is the kind of LP that virtually insists that any of the listener's introspective moodiness is replaced by an overwhelming desire to skip gaily through the countryside. Weezer without the neurosis, 'Guilt Show' mixes exquisite songwriting craftsmanship with frisky Boo Radleys/Britpop brass and piano parts that out-jaunt Supergrass' classic, carefree debut 'I Should Coco.'
There may be girl problems along the way, but - for The Get Up Kids - it is ultimately, 'a good life - end of discussion' (as they point out so succinctly in 'Martyr Me'). The fact that they name even one track 'The Dark Night Of The Soul' feels more like a knowing joke than any sort of pained revelation. Reassuringly enjoyable.
Artists in this article: The Get Up Kids
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