Like a long-lost love that magically finds his/her way back into your life, my favorite indie rock-meets-emo band The Get Up Kids are showing a little East Coast love this weekend playing two area shows for their tri-state fans: Friday, May 1st at the Gramercy Theatre in New York, as well as playing the Bamboozle Festival the next day in New Jersey. Having been four years now since I saw them rock the stage at their farewell tour in 2005, this recent musical development is definitely Something To Write Home About. 
To know these guys is to love their music and their performances always hit the mark. With hardcore fans and an enviable discography to boot, it’s so great to know I will be seeing them again. I teared up last time due to the utter emo-ness of their performance, the fact that they’re one of my favorite all-time bands, I wasn’t ready for their break-up, and they were playing “Long Goodnight” (one of my favorites). The audience’s mood was bittersweet and the band itself seemed uneasy about calling it quits.  Life has been a bit of a drag ever since and their hiatus may explain why “I’m a Loner Dottie, A Rebel” is what I feel forced to say to newer indie bands that unsuccessfully try to take their place.
The Get Up Kids really are the musical equivalent to “the one that got away” for me and I am nothing short of excited to play indie rock catch up with them on Friday night. No more tears, it’s time to celebrate a homecoming that is long “Overdue.” In 2001, these rockers released the phenomenal rarities collection, Eudora, almost a de facto covers album mixed in with alternate takes and B-sides, and some of these tracks were really memorable and worth sharing. So, welcome readers to a little sneak preview I call Under Cover: The Get Up Kids collection, Part I.
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.“Beer For Breakfast” cover (original: The Replacements)
Anyone who has mad love for singer Paul Westerberg and/or The Replacements is a person after my heart. The Get Up Kids took their respect for alternative punk rock to the highest realm possible and expressed it through a cover song that is as energetic, raw, and cocky as the original. It’s to the point and leaves little to the imagination; not to mention, the message is pretty simple. Take some jagged guitar hooks, an upbeat danceability, brash vocals, mix it all together and you’re left with “Beer For Breakfast”. At barely 2 minutes long, it starts as quickly as it ends and you almost need to listen to it a few times just to make out all the lyrics that are really just scattered fragments of thoughts. My favorite is the “All I wanna pick is your nose honey, hi!” Alright then. Who knew something so gross could actually be sweet?
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.“Close To Me” cover (original: The Cure)
You don’t have to be the biggest Cure fan on the planet to enjoy the magical “Close To Me“. In fact, it’s hard not to enjoy Robert Smith‘s emotive vocals, the sonic quirkiness from the keyboards, or the playful drumming in the original. The Get Up Kids pay homage with their adorable cover that captures all the same cuteness (I apologize for using the word ‘cute’ but I’m sorry, it really is cute) of The Cure’s version while still adding a bit more edge. The keyboards are replaced with guitar riffs, the vocals add a tinge of emo, but this version is decidedly upbeat and just as easy to enjoy. “Close To Me” is almost the quintessential “getting ready” song that you want to blast when you’re, well, getting ready… for anything. The lyrics speak of “making yourself sick” with anticipation, waiting, getting excited, and waiting for the wait to be over until it’s finally time… “I never thought this day would end, I never thought this night would ever be so close to me.” “Time for what,” you may ask? That’s up to the listener. But for me, that would be seeing them play this live again!
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Stay tuned next week for Part II as this reunion enthusiasm will definitely be spilling into next week!
The Get Up Kids: website | myspace
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