AMG Review of Eudora

Zac Johnson
All Music Guide

The 17-song odds-and-ends collection Eudora compiles all of the Get Up Kids' old 7"s, covers, compilation tracks, and out-of-print recordings. Some of these tracks haven't seen the light of day since Sub Pop released them through their brilliant singles club; others were on tribute albums and indie split 7"s with severely limited distribution. The cover songs by such diverse artists as David Bowie, the Pixies, the Replacements, and (gulp) Mötley Crüe are fun (particularly their energetic version of the Cure's "Close to Me"), and somehow still manage to be stamped with the Kids' trademark sound. As is often the case with career-spanning collections, it is interesting to hear the shift from their mid-'90s straight punk-pop to their more indie rock/emo sound. While the whole CD doesn't hold together as strongly as their actual releases, longtime fans will be overjoyed to have all of these songs in one place.