The Get Up Kids

The Get Up Kids: Four Minute MileFour Minute Mile (1997)
Doghouse Records

Reviewer Rating: 4.5

User Rating:

Contributed by: TheEvilMonkeyThe Evil Monkey
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Published on December 27th 2002The Get Up Kids, as I established in my review of the later Something To Write Home About, are pretty much genius in my opinion. Barring all minor eps and demos, this is the predecessor to STWHA, but it is truly a different album. On 4MM, The Get Up Kids have both the mild songs that blow you aw.

The Get Up Kids, as I established in my review of the later Something To Write Home About, are pretty much genius in my opinion. Barring all minor eps and demos, this is the predecessor to STWHA, but it is truly a different album.

On 4MM, The Get Up Kids have both the mild songs that blow you away with subtle lyrics and great melodies, and harder, faster songs that don't stray too far from the GUK formula that so many love yet compliment them with some great guitar riffs (Washington Square Park).

So, onto the actual review of the album:

We start off with "Coming Clean", a short but powerful song that has some great lyrics. The low harmonies in this song also work very well.

"Don't Hate Me" has a sound that I can't really pinpoint, but I know it sounds like something I've heard before- anyways, it's a great song with a bridge that gets me every time.

"Fall Semester", I believe, is not sung by lead singer Matt Pryor, but I'm not sure. What is really great about this song is that I think that some of the words in here can be applied to our everyday lives- "There's so many other things for me to find out." And I'm sure a lot of people feel this in their lives, and it comes out as a powerful song with a ton of emotion.

"Stay Gold, Ponyboy" is a very good song, but I'll tell the truth- I've never found anything truly special about this besides the lyrics, which I find as some of the strongest on the album.

"Lowercase West Thomas" is a song that at first seems like it ends too soon, but then I realize that it does well at getting the point of the song across- it's really one of my favorites because I'm thinking about one set of lyrics and that set of lyrics is basically the whole song. Very good song overall.

Okay, "Washington Square Park" is the song I really want to talk most about. The opening of this song does not sound like a GUK song- and I love it. It's a fast paced guitar riff that sets up the song perfectly and makes it so much more powerful. The lyrics and the chorus are strong and wow I cannot say enough about the guitar riffs, because I love them. Maybe they don't belong on a GUK album, but hell, they fit very well with the fast pace of this song.

"Last Place You Look" is a nice song but it seems to fall a bit flat in the hooks department, and one of the things I like best about GUK is the way that they can basically make hooks out of anything. However, it's a bit lacking here, but I still really enjoy this song anyway.

"Better Half" is another mellow song that seems like an even slower "Company Dime", except that it has a few more hooks and so it is still very much worth listening to.

"No Love" and "Shorty" feel like they should be #1 and #2 on this album, as they both have great harmonies, and "Shorty" features an exceptional, exceptional guitar part that kicks in after the second verse. Both have great hooks that make them very memorable.

Okay, here's the deal. Even though I can't say enough about WSP, this song actually gets my vote for best song of the album. "Michelle With One L" is an unbelievably sound song lyrically and melodically, and the emotion is so strong that it has become one of my favorite GUK songs. I love this song because it contains so much, and closes a CD that has stayed in my player for a very, very long time.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

simpson_sA (October 28, 2004)

okay, so when my older sister started raving about the get up kids, i decided to check them out. i've concluded that they're okay. this album was good, but it some tracks sound really popish... it's refreshing every once and awhile but i don't think i could listen to it every day.

Anonymous (March 12, 2004)

This is one of my favorite CDs of all times. I love the emotion, lyrics and energy that The Get Up Kids put into their music. They explore different styles on each of their albums and do each quite well. My favorite band of all time.

waste_elite (January 5, 2003)

this is the cd that gave me explosive diarrhea

Anonymous (January 5, 2003)

This is the CD that got me into this cd.

Anonymous (January 5, 2003)

this is the cd that got me into hating life.

Kurt_F (January 1, 2003)

Hey, the first GUK song I ever heard was "Don't Hate Me" too! Anyways, This album rules. The production is raw, and the songs are not as poppy as the songs on STWHA (not that their poppy songs are bad) "Coming Clean" is still one of my favorite Get Up Kids songs. Your best bet though is to buy the Woodson/Red Letter Day EP.

Anonymous (December 31, 2002)

i think i actually like on a wire the best of the guk releases. i guess i'm lame. this one is definately my least favorite. i heard stwha first though, so i was a latecomer and that biased my opinion of what they sounded like. on a wire/ stwha i definately think are better albums though. this one has its moments though, but only 3 or so songs stand out for me.their next 2 albums have more variety to them instead of the same sound throughout the whole album.

Scotty (December 31, 2002)

This is definitely my favorite of the Get Up Kids albums. I enjoy the lower production sound on this, as opposed to their Vagrant releases' better production. The very first GUK song I ever heard was "Don't Hate Me". That's still my favorite GUK song.

Anonymous (December 30, 2002)

Great album, probably my favorite Get Up Kids disc, but this review blows balls. Every song has "really emotional lyrics and awesome guitar riffs!"

My favorite songs are #4, 5, and 7 because they sound just like Master of Puppets.

Anonymous (December 30, 2002)

Good album. That's for sure. Not nearly as great as STWHA, bu better than On A Wire.
Crap review. I try to be nice, but this really was a bad review. Review some new albums. Everyone has already heard GUK albums and made their own minds up.
I love em.

Anonymous (December 29, 2002)

The guy below me has obviously never listened to the Get Up Kids. That's Blink, you're thinking of buddy. Respect the music even if you don't have any idea what it is.

Anonymous (December 29, 2002)

Crap. I just don't see the enjoyment of whining and crying. "BOO HOO, my girl-friend didn’t call me on time tonight! I'm gonna kill my self! Please feel sorry for me and buy my albums! BOO HOO"
INSULTS AHOY!

propagheny (December 29, 2002)

This album is clearly a rip of Cannibal Corpse. Their death metal influences combine well with their singer's Motorheadesque voice. I do agree with the person who pointed out there are way too many songs about sniffing glue. They are beating a dead horse on that one.

Anonymous (December 29, 2002)

This album is almost addictive....I love it.

Anonymous (December 29, 2002)

the production sux and you can tell these guys were actually kids when they wrote this album. some good songs, but overall most of the songs sound the same, were great for all the lamo indy kids to rock out to then jump ship after they got big.sloppy and redundant. boring at times.i never really saw the big deal aboyut these guys. stwha i found was much better. overrated, but not as bad as all the haters make them out to be.
cawknocker

Anonymous (December 29, 2002)

Reverberate the masterdate.