Artist: The Get Up Kids
Album: The Guilt Show
Label: Vagrant
Tracks: 13
Length: 45:29
Review by: Phil Nichols

It has been seven years now since five awkward Kansas City kids combined their original blend of Midwestern power-pop and the poisoned punk that can only come from being young, frustrated, and unlucky in love. It has been seven years since their debut album, Four Minute Mile, created shockwaves through the underground music community. Seven years of offering catharsis to a generation of hopeless romantics and angst-ridden teens. But in these seven years, the Get Up Kids have grown up. They are no longer kids, but rather veterans trying to hold their own in a scene that they helped create. Their sophomore release, Something to Write Home About is something of an underground emo masterpiece. And when they released their third album, On A Wire, which leaned more in the direction of a Beatles-esque Brit-pop sound, fans lauded their great songwriting and said the album was ahead of its time. Now, two more years have passed, and the Kids are back with their fourth full-length album, Guilt Show.

So what does Guilt Show have to offer? Well, my friends, the first minute of this disc will let you know that you are not looking at another On A Wire, but rather an energetic onslaught laden with tight harmonies and ridiculously catchy melodies. It seems as though the Kids were content trying the reflective-pop approach on one album, and now they just want to get back to the rock. And while he would have been happy either way, this writer is particularly satisfied with the results on Guilt Show. Musically, the album is a hybrid of Something to Write Home About's excitement and On A Wire's pop sensibilities. Lyrically, Matt Pryor has never been better, as the songs that once dealt exclusively with girls and rejection now cover more mature topics like betrayal, hypocrisy, and even politics. The music is tight, the vocals are strong, and the production is right on the money, making for a very solid fourth release.

The irony is that the Get Up Kids' downfall comes from their past success. A few years back, very few bands had a sound that could compete with them. But as they grew more popular, hundreds of up-and-coming bands began mimicking their sound in hopes to make a few bucks from music's newest trend. As a result, the scene became crowded and found it's way into the places we have come to fear the most- malls and teenybopper fanzines. With all of excess bands it has become hard for the true artists to be creative, to stand out. Basically, had this album been released a few years ago, it would be a masterpiece, but with the competition in the scene today, Guilt Show, while above average, falls a few feet short of outstanding.