The Get Up Kids

Five years after releasing what would turn out to be their last studio album (the excellent Guilt Show), Kansas City, MO emo punk heroes the Get Up Kids reunited to ride a burgeoning new nostalgia wave and re-release and tour their seminal 1999 album, Something To Write Home About. That temporary comeback has turned permanent with Simple Science, the first of three planned self-released EPs. Though this could be an easy, albeit modest, cash-in for the group, they're not content to rest on their laurels ― there's nothing formulaic or even familiar about these first four songs. Matt Pryor's recognizable vocals wind their way around hooks as big as ever, but this time they're certainly not as breathless, leaving lots of room for manipulation of their airtight musicianship, as heard on bouncy opener "Your Petty Pretty Things" and on "Keith Case," whose dense, rattling bass and reverb galore open only in spurts for startling blasts of ferocious guitar. Years after helping to define a new era of pop punk, the Get Up Kids continue to bend pop's basics into structures and sounds uniquely their own, making their return an anticipated and worthwhile one.