The Get Up Kids have been noticeably absent from the music scene for the last six years. After four studio albums, a live album and numerous EPs and seven-inch records, the band called it quits in 2005 when mounting tensions made it nearly impossible for them to play together. After a six-year hiatus, they put out an album that is completely different from the rest of their catalog, blending their emo style with a lot of '80s style synth and the dissonance of modern indie rock.
That dissonance is immediately noticeable on the opening track of There Are Rules, ""Tithe."" An echoing woman speaking German with a heavily distorted, reverberating pulse underneath, lumbering along, her staccato voice floating over the deep keyboards, the song picks up quickly into a noisy, four-on-the-floor punk-style romp before falling into back to a pulse for the verse.
This is a far cry from the band's 1997 debut, which sounds like a much sloppier but decades more mature Taking Back Sunday. The new record sounds much tighter, as evidenced on the second cut, ""Regent's Court."" The song features guitars trading licks and vocals trading back and forth between the chorus and verse. The chorus is probably the most interesting part of this song, as it is sung in three parts. The first three lines are belted out after two verses, followed by another verse and the next three lines of the chorus, the final verse, and finally the entire chorus.
For all the energy the second track injects into the record, the third cut, ""Shatter Your Lungs,"" slams it to a crashing halt. We're talking Porsche-into-a-brick-wall-style crashing halt. It's not a pretty transition, and the song is a veritable snooze. Listening to this song makes me feel terrible that I waited this long for a new full-length. With repetitive lyrics and a very cheesy '80s sound, this is probably the worst song on the album.
""Automatic"" is a positive trip back to the decade of New Wave and Hair Metal, picking up speed throughout with an interesting vocal line.
Note that these are the first four tracks, and only one sounds remotely like the band I remember. Not to say that none of these songs that are different are no good, far from it actually. The problem I have with this is that the sound is so different that they should have reformed with a different name, so as not to disappoint fans with this radically different sound.
That admitted, I really like the song ""Rally 'Round the Fool,"" with its slow, driving bass line and muted guitars. The introduction to the song is eerie, but its straightforward nature makes it a smooth listen. Ambient keyboards and sparse drums make the rhythms sound much more complex than common time, and the heavily distorted guitars in the background add yet another layer of complexity to this fantastic song. The vocals are sparse as well, but when they are there you can hear a soulfulness in the whining voice that isn't present in the other songs on the album.
The presence of the keyboard lends itself nicely to most of the first half of the album, but ""Better Lie"" and ""Kieth Case"" have a ridiculous amount of keyboard, which detracts from the song, and a weird style which sounds like a poppy death march. ""Kieth Case"" has a great bass line that sounds a lot like the Japanese rock band the pillows, specifically the track ""Purple Apple,"" the bass lines are eerily similar.
The final song on the album is ""Rememorable,"" which I think should mean memorable. The song is probably the most reminiscent of their old style, though updated for a new decade. The three part punk vocals are a nice addition to the song, giving it a huge injection of energy, and the bridge is pretty sparse, though in a good way. Without the keyboards, bass or guitars, just drums and vocals, the bridge sticks in your head. This is probably the strongest song on the record that fits with the band's past.
When I saw this album was coming out I was ridiculously excited, but when I finally got my hands on it I was pretty disappointed. After giving it a few listens, some of the songs are growing on me, but this is no Four Minute Mile. It's rather unfortunate that we waited this long for an album that just doesn't live up to expectations. It's a good effort boys, but let's hear another ""Shorty.""
