Saturday, February 28, 2009

The Get Up Kids - On a Wire demos (2002)

In January of 2002, The Get Up Kids, arguably the de facto poster kids for turn-of-the-millennium "emo," strove to make an album (On a Wire) that would not only be a creative transition from 1999's Something to Write Home About, but also an opportunity to forge a path that would lead them out of the misinterpreted generization that everyone wished to so conveniently bestow on them. I think they succeeded in both respects, to varying degrees, but at the end of the day, I don't think too many fans were taken aback. On the other hand, their audience failed to expand, at least on an exponential level. Ultimately, Wire saw the Kids shunning much of their wrought, punk past, and simply wound up as a heartfelt, albeit a little down-in-the-mouth, rock record on par with the rest of their catalog, if not a little better.

I found this collection of demos on Soulseek a few weeks ago, and was delighted to do so in fact. The album incarnations of the songs (11 of the 12 songs are represented here) didn't stray far from these takes, but also included here are a handful of like-minded, untitled tracks that failed to make the cut, and some Guilt Show (their follow-up to Wire) "b-sides" that I'm not sure were actually released as such. Hmmm... Enjoy (or not)

01. Overdue
02. Stay Gone
03. Let the Reigns Go Loose
04. untitled
05. Grunge Pig
06. High as the Moon
07. All That I Knew
08. Walking on a Wire
09. Wish You Were Here
10. Campfire Kansas
11. The Worst Idea
12. Hannah Hold On
13-17 all untitled
18. I'll Catch You (acoustic)
19. Lost In the Light (Guilt Show b-side)
20. Send Us a Saint (Guilt Show b-side)

Hear

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