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The relevance of
this review is questionable. Has anyone on this site not heard this
album yet? But it seems silly to have a local music site and not review
the Get Up Kids new album. So it's time to get this over with. Just
keep reading and you'll know what to say about "On a Wire"
without having to listen to it.
I've always been on the fence about the Get Up Kids. Their sincerity
makes me cringe. If Doogie Howser were a real person, he'd probably
be a Get Up Kids fan. But even with their mushy tone, it's hard to hate
them. I've seen them live twice and was impressed both times. They're
infectious— to an extent.
I'd heard things prior to the album's release: they matured as songwriters;
they'd been listening to "mature" bands (the Kinks, the Stones).
All this maturity held a great deal of promise. Maybe they'd stop referring
to "The Outsiders"? Maybe Matt Prior would sing and write
like he'd conquered puberty? I imagined this album being "discussed"
by the local rock elite. First I downloaded the songs. My roommates
and I couldn't stomach them. Upon first listen the songs seemed laughably
terrible, like they'd shed their pop punk hooks for a sound bland enough
to stand with Hall & Oates. Slower, yes. How does that translate
into "mature"? Somehow they've managed to retain that pathetic
bedwetting teenager sound, I thought. But to my own credit I was patient
and shrewd. I didn't dare enter a public place and purchase the album.
Instead I borrowed it from a friend who I'm sure will feel slightly
betrayed by this review. After walking around for a few days with "On
a Wire" in my Discman, I'm proud to announce that it is savagely
mediocre. Not as bad as the punks would have you believe, not a step
forward like the GUK fans insist. The songs are subtler. The hooks take
longer to appreciate. This doesn't mean I enjoy it enough to buy or
even burn it. But a couple of the songs are undeniably catchy. "The
Worst Idea" was stuck in my head for a whole day and "Campfire
Kansas" is a nice tune if you don't let the lyrics get in the way.
In fact, only the title track is worthy of being abolished from the
canon of contemporary music. I don't know how else to explain it except
that it sounds like the theme song to a USA original show.
Anyway, if someone asks about this album, just respond, "You know,
I listened to it and it didn't really do anything for me. Before, they
were fun, the new one's just sort of flat. But it's not as bad as people
think. I think they take a lot of shit around here because this town
is tired of emo. And at least they didn't make another straight-up emo
album. They could have and made a lot of money. It certainly didn't
rank up with the Promise Ring's latest though, or even the Anniversary's."
After that you're on your own.
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