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Show 16 The Get Up Kids won't stay gone BY ROBERT BURNSIDE PHOTO COURTESY OF MYSPACE.COM PREVIEW: BY GREGORY GERULAT f you're well versed in 80s film, the first thought it brings to mind may be "cute, adorable and furry creature." If you're well versed in Cantonese, you may translate it as "ghost, demon or devil." If you're well versed in instrumental rock with dramatic soft-loud dynamics, heavy melodic bass lines and precocious use of electronics and distortion, then you will think of none other than Stuart Braithwaite, John Cummings, Barry Burns, Dominic Aitchison and Martin Bulloch: the Scottish post-rock overlords of the band Mogwai. Since the defining criteria of the post-rock genre has always been somewhat flimsy, the band has been marked up with home branded categories, I he Get Up Kids spent the first half of their career creating a blueprint legions of future bands would emulate; however, they spent the second half attempting to escape their own sound. After breaking up for four years, and regrouping, TGUK seek to prove their validity by releasing their first album in seven years. 2009 marked the 10-year anniversary of TGUK's most successful album, Something to Write Home About — an album Vagrant T Records co-owner Jon Cohen put a second mortgage on his parent's house to fund. This was a good enough reason for a reunion tour. While in Europe, the band mentioned they were writing new material and would play at least one new song. One new song led to many and a concept for a string of EPs was planned. The "Simple Science" EPs would be a compilation of four songs each that would be recorded using authentic analog methods rather than relying on the convenience of modern digital recording technology. After one EP was released, TGUK opted to package the remainder of the songs planned for three EPs and release them as a full album. There Are Rules stands as a blatant sonic reminder of a principle TGUK strongly believe in, "Never make the same album twice." Determined not to be cornered by confining classifications, TGUK venture into a sound dominated by bizarre synthesized effects and swirling ambience where Matt Pryor's distinct voice is the only thing fans will recognize in a wilderness of unfamiliarity. Unfamiliarity should, however, not be discounted as unlistenablility. When a successful band makes a new album, the members have two general options: the safe option (follow the formula that led to previous success) or the gamble (create something new). Some would say TGUK have exhausted the gamble with their past three albums, but a closer examination proves the opposite. The success of their first albums came from composing genuine songs that weren't carbon copies of what was commonplace at that time, in other words, their safe option was the gamble. The element of unfamiliarity has been present in each of their subsequent albums, only never again to such acclaim. The Get Up Kids are drenched in validity because they continue to produce honest original material while other bands reach for relevance in replication. Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will such as "comatose post-punk," "foggy shoegaze," or "art metal." Picking up influences from other postmodern '90s flag bearers, such as Sonic Youth and Slint, and further influencing other post-rock beloveds, such as God Speed You Black Emperor! and Sigur R6s, they continue onward with the soon scheduled release of their seventh album, Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will. While most similar postrock bands seek to build up a cornucopia of surrealistic soundscapes and ethereal imagery in your mind, Mogwai proves with their single "Rano Pano" that they seek to tear all of that down with crashing, distorted waves and chasmal methods of aural surgery. You get a quick dose of blissful anesthesia with the opening of their next single, "You're Lionel Richie," but it then soon plunges you back into anamorphic depths of eerie yet tantalizingly structured guitar riffs and bass melodies. Constantly progressing and outperforming their earlier works, this upcoming album looks like it will definitely be worth its salt. Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will is scheduled for release on Feb. 15 and you can listen to their single "Rano Pano" on the Sub Pop Records website, SubPop. corn. If this album makes you sing their praises, then be sure to catch them live when they tour through on May 3 at the Avalon in Salt Lake. PHOTO COURTESY OF AMAZON.COM |