There Are Rules will mark The Get Up Kids’s first full-length release in seven years. With the few previews of the album that the band has let slip, mixes of Guilt Show, Simple Science, and even a slight throwback to the other days of Something To Write Home About all seem to find their own home in the material. “Pararelevant” is no different.
 
Starting off with driving keyboard pieces from James Dewees, a steady drumbeat from Ryan Pope lies in the background until guitars from Matt Pryor and Jim Suptic pick up the pace. “Pararelevant” shows the more explorative side of The Get Up Kids as seen on this year’s Simple Science release, but it packs much more of a punch than the EP did.
 
The Get Up Kids certainly succeed in their increasingly clear attempt to appeal to a more “indie” crowd, but won’t be able to shed their emo past so simply: Pryor’s vocals leave remnants of the scene he helped create some fifteen years ago. But the joining of the new and old sounds on the record might be the key to its greatness. If “Pararelevant” is any indicator of what’s left to come on the rest of There Are Rules, then The Get Up Kids might once again become kings of their court.  
 
***.5/*****