Worse for the Wear Album Reviews

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AMG Review

The third album by Matthew Pryor's Get Up Kids' side project, the New Amsterdams, splits the difference between the full-band Never You Mind, and the entirely solo Para Toda Vida, returning the rhythm section of the former, while keeping the largely acoustic focus of the latter. With its touches of banjo, flashes of wry humor, and more sprightly tempos -- all attributes heard to good effect on the sardonic road diary "Asleep at the Wheel" -- Worse for the Wear is the most relaxed-sounding and brightest New Amsterdams record yet, and with songs as catchy as "The Spoils of the Spoiled," and the oddly '70s rock piano-based tune, "From California," the New Amsterdams are in danger of taking over from the Get Up Kids as Pryor's most interesting and memorable band. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide