The New Amsterdams – Story Like A Scar

  • Bobby Gorman posted
  • Reviews

New Amsterdams

Story Like A Scar - Vagrant Records

Everyone, whether you know it or not, owns something to Matt Pryor. As the mastermind behind the highly influential and now defunct Get Up Kids, he spawned countless impersonators in the indie rock scene – but even that wasn’t enough for Pryor. Despite his busy schedule, Pryor still went out and created his Kansas city side project, The New Amsterdams to much praise and an incredibly enthusiastic welcome. And it’s because of that that you feel slightly disappointed by Story Like A Scar. It’s not that Story Like A Scar is a bad album, because it’s not, but after releasing four solid full lengths, you can’t help but feel that this could have been so much better than it actually is.

On their last CD, Worse For The WearThe New Amsterdams gave their ever growing fan base a indie rock masterpiece with songs like Hover Near Fame and From California; but here, they seem to have taken a completely different root – going for a much more prominent “roots rock” album with lap steel, banjo, harmonica, stand-up bass and even the brushed drums. While the album kicks off pretty strongly with The Death Of Us, it soon starts to falter as the songs seem to be more laid back than before and there isn’t that certain hook which really captivated the listeners on their previous efforts. Sadly, this is most evident in Pryor’s vocals. His emotion seems to be gone completely, especially on the five and a half minute Your Ghost which is placed horribly half way through the album and really disrupts the flow of the album. Luckily, he picks up the pace a bit with the following two songs, Intelligent Design and Calendar Days (which are the two standout tracks of the album).

Really, the album is just so much more mellow than it’s predecessor and lacks that raw emotion which made Worse For The Wear so enjoyable. if this was done by any other band, Story Like A Scar would be looked at in an entirely different light, but since it’s a New Amsterdams record, you can’t help but feel a little cheated – after all, some of the free demos on their site sound better than the tracks on the full length.