The world can easily be divided into four distinct groups:
- Those who love the Get Up Kids
- Those who hate the Get Up Kids
- Those who have heard some Get Up Kids stuff but aren't really sure if they like them or not
- And then those who don't even know that the band exists.
Honestly, if you take the first three groups, add them together and cube it, the fourth group will still consist of more people. That may change, and that change may be sooner rather than later. Eudora is meant to serve two wholly different purposes...one, a more accessible way for existing fans to get their hands on some previously released, currently out of print material...two, to serve as a solid, well-rounded introduction to the band for newer listeners. This isn't the first time a Vagrant band has taken this tack...labelmate Alkaline Trio did the exact same thing just two years ago. As with the Trio 'comp' album, Eudora is a precursor to a new Get Up Kids album due out sometime this spring...it paid off in spades for the Trio, time will tell as to what it does for the Kids. Enough talk of popularity tactics...this is an 'album review' (in the loosest possible sense of the phrase).
'Up On The Roof' starts the album off proper, but it kind of rubbed me the wrong way...see, the opening strains had me thinking that they were leading off with another song entirely, only to head off in another direction. It's a good track, don't get me wrong, I'm just don't like being teased like that (sure, I could have just looked at the album sleeve and realized I was wrong...but seriously, that's effort). Want to know what song I thought it was? Keep reading, I make mention of it somewhere in here. Batting second is my least favorite song on the album, 'Suffragette City'...seventies-styled 'arena rock' has never really sat well with me, and since this song makes me feel like I'm listening to an intelligent version of KISS, I don't like it...several people I've talked to do enjoy this song, but I just can't get into it (of course, this could be a 'Reggie' song, in which case I get the point and it makes me laugh). 'Close To Me' is my personal album opener...it's chock-full of key boards, quirky down beats and 'present by not overpowering' guitars, all interspersed with insightful, honest lyrics...classic Get Up Kids stuff, right there. Sliding into the number six slot, we've got ?Regret?, a tune that has me quite perplexed for a while. See, I swore up and down that this is a modified Reggie & the Full Effect song (or vice-versa), but I couldn't find my cd cases to help me figure out which song...compounding matters was the fact that Mike was absolutely certain that it was some 80's or 90's song not even related to this band in any way. Well...Mike and I sure do know a lot about music...and both of us were right! 'Regret' was originally a New Order song, and was later covered by Reggie...hoorah for us!. Oh...and the song is sheer brilliance, which is to be expected of a song that was done by the same band that did 'Blue Monday'.
Time to hit quick'n'dirty mode (a space/time saving technique I lifted from Scott Keith)...'Newfound Mass (2000)' isn't the same as 'A Newfound Interest In Massachusetts'...it's got a name that's easier to say/read/write, it's slower, and it's not really as dramatic or affecting as the original...it's good, but I'd rather hear the older recording than this new-fangled one. 'Alec Eiffel' is a pretty damn good cover, managing to emulate the Pixies trademark frenetic energy...harder drums, cleaner guitars, less strained vocal inflection and slick keyboarding go a long way towards the Kids leaving their fingerprints on this early 90's classic. Frankly, this wasn't my favorite song on the Where Is My Mind? Pixies tribute album (Weezer's 'Velouria' wins that honor), nor it is my favorite on Eudora. What is my favorite on this album? 'Impossible Outcomes'! It has everything that I love...rising/falling vocals...speedy, bouncing guitars...energetic drumming...synthesizer goodness...and references to school girls! Actually, it reminds me of some thoughts that I once had about a girl...but that's the reason why this band is as likeable as they are, they write easy-to-relate-to songs. '10 Minutes' was one of the highlights of Something To Write Home About, and this previously unreleased recording of the song once again stands out amongst the rest...I particularly enjoyed the excellent usage of harmonizing and the powerful sense of immediacy in the lead vocals. Also getting the reissue treatment is a new version of 'I'm a Loner Dottie, a Rebel'...now, I'm a sucker for raw recordings and neat harmonizing (see above), but I honestly preferred the track that ended up on Four Minute Mile. In the continuing spirit of 'previously released in a different form', 'Shorty' comes at your aural cavities with mad demo-style flavor...now this I liked...yelling, heavier drums, a more present bass line...mmm mmm good. Closing out the hour of music (give or take a few minutes...mostly take) is one of the better album-ending songs I've ever heard, 'The Breathing Method'. The opening of the tune suggests that it's going to be a down-tempo, mellow track...but around the minute-forty-five mark, they switch gears...they get hard and loud (on the Kids' scale, natch)...then they drop back again...up again...you get the point. The lyrics are appropriately reflective and somewhat teeter on the edge of self-deprecating...the listener is left yearning for more, and that's the ultimate goal...touch the audience and leave them clamoring.
Eudora will definitely satisfy those in the existing fan base who never managed to get their paws on any of the demos or 7"s. I'm also fairly certain that it will rope in more than a handful of new listeners and send them scampering for the Get Up Kids section of whatever bin they occupy this year (I've seen them listed as emo, punk, indie and rock so far). Yeah, it falters once or thrice, but the pacing of the album is solid and the overall feel is at once uplifting and a reason to give pause to relate their own lives and experiences to the music. Hell, my only real complaint is that 'Mass Pike' isn't on the album (that's the song that I thought was opening the album...I didn't say it was a perfect match or anything!). Strongly recommended, even for those who are either indifferent towards the band or out and out dislike them...it isn't recommended for 13 year-old MTV junkies, though, let us keep the Kids a while longer, please.