The Get Up Kids: Problems
On their new album Problems, The Get Up Kids examine everything from life-changing loss to loneliness to the inevitable anxiety of existing in 2019. But by sustaining the essence of their sound—anthemic choruses with sing-along-ready melodies—the band highlights those troubles as a shared experience, giving way to an unbreakable solidarity.
And at the heart of Problems is an invaluable element the band’s embodied since their 1997 debut Four Minute Mile: a penetrating lyricism that’s both acutely introspective and indelibly resonant. Throughout Problems, The Get Up Kids again prove themselves attuned to the nuance of highly specific emotions, and ultimately validate the messiest and most nebulous of feelings.
On the joyfully swinging, piano-heavy “The Problem Is Me,” for instance, the band explores the notion of embracing your own romantic dysfunction, while “Salina” captures a small moment of melancholy with sweeping intensity and sprawling guitar work.
Later, on “Your Ghost Is Gone,” The Get Up Kids deliver a gently devastating piano ballad sparked from an instrumental piece Dewees wrote soon after his mother’s death.