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The New Amsterdams
Never You Mind
Heroes & Villians/Vagrant
When the label starts reiterating how little the side project sounds like the songwriter’s main band, you can be pretty sure the two sound an awful lot alike. The New Amsterdams, Get Up Kids main man Matt Pryor’s kinder, gentler creative outlet (which also features GUK bassist Robert Pope, along with a track or two by fellow Kid James Dewees), might as well be a Get Up unplugged performances. Some of the tunes get a little cranked up, some are acoustic guitar-driven, and most ride the middle with subtler full-band performances, but ‘that sound’ is still all over this disc. And it’s great. Seriously, if he was going for a more earnest, heartfelt expression, I mean, how much more earnest and heartfelt can you get than a Get Up Kids tune? These tracks are as good as anything that band has done to date. They’re just rendered with a bit of a softer touch, and that’s about the only difference. A wonderful cover of The Afghan Whigs’ ‘When We Two Parted’ serves as the icing. Adult Contemporary Emo? Whatever. Pick it up because it’s good.
Ravis Harnell
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