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UncutThey mix wistful, hook-laden rock songs in the vein of Counting Crows, Five For Fighting, The Gin Blossoms, The Posies and Pete Yorn with the proto-emo sound of Sunny Day Real Estate. [Aug 2002, p.104]
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What the Kids lack in pep this time they make up for with honest, homey performances.
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Alternative PressUnfortunately, the visceral energy of their early days is lost in their newfound maturity. [Aug 2002, p.71]
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Entertainment WeeklyThis is the group at their best. [31 May 2002, p.108]
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Just below the surface, all the quintessential Get up Kids qualities are there: melody, intelligence, and lyrical sincerity.
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So, yes, these songs have melodies and choruses, but they are so trite and played-out that even the fifteen-year-olds that this is written for will smell something fishy in their neatly packaged emotional escapism.
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MagnetA tremendous leap forward. [#55, p.77]
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Q MagazineIt'd be easy to throw the "emo" tag at them, but Matt Pryor's approach has more in common with the disarming honesty of Weezer's Rivers Cuomo than mere whinging. [Nov 2002, p.100]
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On a Wire quivers with the anxieties that must have arisen as the Get Up Kids left behind what originally made them.
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On a Wire has that glossy veneer that only happens with the help of a good decisive manager, a fast-talking label guy with All The Answers, and that bloodthirsty, all-encompassing desire for yet another Big Tour.
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Their new pop direction finds them drifting about, directionless as opposed to eclectic.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 6 out of 7
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Mixed: 0 out of 7
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Negative: 1 out of 7
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davenSep 22, 2006Get Up Kids have gone soft on our asses, with mixed results.
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IanApr 16, 2006go buy one of their other albums, even their last rocks harder than this.
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JonathanHJan 24, 2006