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*** The New Amsterdams

NEVER YOU MIND

(Vagrant)

If emo-core is a taste you’ve yet to acquire, you might want to take a pass on the New Amsterdams. But if you are drawn into emo’s forthright lyrics and straight-shooting guitars, this side project of the popular Lawrence (Kansas) band the Get Up Kids is a graceful entry into what’s usually an overwrought genre. A largely acoustic undertaking, Never You Mind presents Get Up Kid Matt Pryor in a pensive mood and taking a step back from the unrestrained melodic blast of his main outfit. “Proceed with Caution” and “Every Double Life” sound like acoustic demos of the Get Up Kids’ power-pop anthems; the dreamier “Idaho” and “Goodbye” are snail-paced and sotto voce. And the waltz tempo of the aching “Lonely Hearts” underscores that song’s ironic admission that “Only hearts break in time.” But the album’s surefire winner is the glittering “Never Treat Others,” a PC version of a Gin Blossoms hit. It may be the most accessible doorway into the world of emo-core yet.

— Lois Maffeo