For those who still don't know, the New Amsterdams are Matt Pryor of the Get Up Kids' side project. This is their third release.

The New Amsterdams' sound is one of laid-back, groove-oriented rock. The songs don't have much in the way of musical surprises, and virtually any track off this album could be played on your local "lite rock" station. Pryor's vocals, hit-or-miss on the last Get Up Kids effort, really are dead on for this CD. His voice seems to be growing into this faux-country sound he's been developing.

If you're a fan of the slower, moodier moments of the last Get Up Kids album, then you'd like this CD a lot, as it really is just more of a continuation of those songs [hell, Rob and Ryan Pope of the Get Up Kids play on virtually all of these songs anyway, so what's really the difference?]. There's no real speedbumps here, but at the same point no outstanding track that just screams "play me again!" My guess is, this record is just 10 songs that Matt Pryor had lying around that just didn't work in the Get Up Kids setting [although "Smoking Gun" sounds like it could've been an On The Wire B-side, and "From California" is a blatant musical counterpart to Something To Write Home About's "Valentine"]. It's a nice Sunday morning album, if that means anything to you.

MP3s
Hover Near Fame
Hanging On For Hope