Great Show, Guilty Album

Fans of the Get Up Kids were treated to a blistering nineteen song alternative rock set Friday night at Axis. The band members, who were in Boston promoting their new album, "Guilt Show," presented the crowd with some of the best songs from their eight year career.

Unfortunately, "Guilt Show" features neither the quality nor the intensity of Friday's show or on previous albums. The new album fails to live up to the high standard set by the group's past works. While the music lays down musically proficient beats and riffs, it lacks the depth and heart that has fostered a loyal fan base.

The band kicked-off their introduction of "Guilt Show" with "Man of Conviction" While "Man of Conviction" works well live; on "Guilt Show" it misleads the listener. After this vigorous one minute and thirty-three second opener, the album never approaches the energy of its first song. "Man of Conviction" comes across as a contemporary The Get Up Kids song on speed, almost as if they played a three minute song in double time.

This great, fast-paced opener unfortunately promises more than the rest of the album has to offer. It almost seems as though the Get Up Kids are using the song to say, "We can still rock. We can still write a punk song," to counteract any criticisms that they are aging or going soft.

"On a Wire," the band's previous album, was the obligatory slow and introspective album. While it is excellent, it left most fans eager for the band to put down the acoustic guitars and throw in a few more screams. "Guilt Show" return's to the band's harder style, but there is a decided lack of emotion and urgency to the album.

On songs like "Wouldn't Believe It" the band provides a bouncy tune complete with keyboard, but doesn't go anywhere until the end. Lead singer Matt Pryor does finally let go of the reins a little and release his snarl, but unfortunately these instances only appear at the end of songs or not all.

Similarly, "In Your Sea," one of the album's best tracks, still comes off as a little too happy and whimsical. The song even has what sounds to be a xylophone, and features a series of "doodoodoos," which only makes the listener wonder why they cut out the birds chirping.

Another disappointing part of the album is the relatively shallow lyrics. One of the hallmarks of the band has been their poignant, affecting words, but on "Guilt Show", the lyrics appear to be missing a degree of sincerity. The group's seemingly uplifted attitude is unfortunately reflected on the album as complacency. Often the lyrics feel artificial, and too often clich‚ lines like "will you save us?" are repeated over and over again.

Highlights of the album include the piano heavy "Holy Roman," which includes a playful elevator music-like intro, and the moody, "Is There a Way Out?" The slow, whispering "Dark Night of the Soul," is also one of the album's best, along with "Martyr Me," an energetic pick me up after the desperate "Holy Roman."

Despite the fact that "Guilt Show" doesn't meet the band's potential, there is still much of value in this album. On "Four Minute Mile", the listener can feel that the band members just tore through the songs until their fingers bled. This time around, it's easier to visualize the band sitting around discussing which keyboard to use. That kind of method is perfectly fine for some bands, but for the Get Up Kids, they are at their best when they give into raw emotion.

This raw emotion is, however, still displayed on the stage. With their hour and a half set, complete with a three song encore, The Get Up Kids showed that while "Guilt Show" may not have proven that they can still lose themselves in the music, their live show certainly does.