Matt Pryor has been the leader of three main musical
ventures throughout his career. He was the leader
of the band that could be held responsible for the
whole emo trend The Get Up Kids. At the height of
the Get Up Kids reign he started a side-project called
The New Amsterdams who released one of the most beautiful
indie rock albums ever in 2003’s “Worse
for the Wear”. Recently he has added a children’s
oriented band called The Terrible Two’s.
When “Killed or Cured” was written Get
Up Kids were incinerating and The Terrible Two’s
were just a dream. It was created as the new disc
for what was becoming Pryor’s main musical endeavor
during a very dark and hopeless time in his life.
“Drinking in the Afternoon” is rumored
to have been written the day before he quit the Get
Up Kids.
The original issue of Killed or Cured (labeled Killed
on the disc) is a dark hopeless affair which is a
stripped down acoustic guitar affair that has more
in common with Over the Rhine then Sunny Day Real
Estate. It’s a morose somber affair that listens
like a suicide note. The tracks are rough and stripped
back and feel very unfinished in an appropriate sort
of way. These are the songs which were available for
free from the New Amsterdams’ site a year ago.
The new versions of the songs (labeled Cured on the
disc) are just as shoe-gazing and draining as the
originals, but they appear in a nearly filled out
sort of way with orchestrations and a full cast of
musicians. They have a more avant-garde sort of feel,
almost like an art-school project. The songs lose
something of their identity in the new arrangements
becoming an un-tucked school uniform sort of lackluster
attempt at fashion. Although they might be considered
necessary to give this disc some sort of sales incentive
it quickly becomes something that is gimmicky and
loses its appeal. “Your Red Hand” is the
only track that really takes to its new sheen with
a sparkle but it is by far the happiest track on the
album and could be a b-side from “Worse for
the Wear”.
If you are a collector “Killed or Cured”
is a solid and necessary addition to the Matt Pryor
cataloge. If not, you may find yourself more interested
his new album from The Terrible Twos “If You
Ever See an Owl…” which is a fun humorous
collection. Either way “Killed of Cured”
is an adventurous outing which will definitely whet
you appetite for the New Amsterdams new release “Story
Like a Scar”.
Key Tracks: Your Red Hand, Drinking in the Afternoon
Reviewed by: Rob Froese
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